How to Watch Monday Night Football on TV and Streaming

Monday night is the one NFL primetime window split between a cable channel and a broadcast network. ESPN airs every Monday Night Football game, and ABC simulcasts some of them. What you need depends on whether the games you care about are on ABC.

Which teams play this Monday, and whether that game is also on ABC, is listed on our NFL TV & streaming schedule.

This season

• Games: 17, one per Monday from Week 1 to Week 17. There is no Monday game in Week 18.
• ABC simulcasts: ESPN's schedule lists ABC for nine of the 17 games, and ESPN says one more ABC simulcast will be added during the season. Our schedule shows which Monday games are also on ABC.
• Disney+: two regular-season Monday games also stream on Disney+ this season, with the second still to be announced.
• Week 18: ESPN and ABC air a Saturday doubleheader (4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET) instead.
• Playoffs: ESPN and ABC have a Wild Card game, a Divisional Round game and Super Bowl LXI (Feb. 14, 2027), which also streams on Disney+.

ESPN or ABC: who has which Monday game

ESPN has every game. For selected games, ABC airs the exact ESPN broadcast at the same time. ESPN picks those games before the season and can add more later.

ESPN is a cable channel, so you need a TV package or ESPN's streaming plan. ABC is a broadcast network, so an antenna and a local ABC signal are enough for the simulcast games.

An ESPN-only game can still be on local TV in one case. The NFL puts every regular-season game on over-the-air TV in the two teams' home markets. If your local team plays an ESPN-only Monday game, a station in your market carries it. Check local listings to find which station that is in your area.

What Monday Night Football costs per game

If you subscribe now, three monthly payments cover the 13 remaining Monday-window games, including the two Week 18 Saturday games in January. The figures below use regular prices before taxes.

• Sling Essentials ($19.99 a month) is the lowest-priced way to get ESPN and ESPN2 that we found. Three payments come to $59.97, or about $4.61 per game. It has no local channels.
• ESPN Unlimited ($31.99 a month) comes to $95.97 for three payments, or about $7.38 per game. It also includes ESPN's alternate telecasts and the Spanish broadcast in the ESPN app.
• The annual plan ($319.99) costs slightly more than 10 monthly payments ($319.90). It only pays off if you keep ESPN for more than ten months a year. For the rest of this season, three monthly payments ($95.97) are enough.
• A live TV service with local channels such as YouTube TV's Sports plan ($64.99 a month) or DIRECTV MySports ($64.99 a month, ESPN Unlimited included) costs about $33 a month more than ESPN Unlimited. It makes sense if you also want the broadcast networks and other sports channels for the rest of the NFL week.
• A TV provider login may cost nothing extra. ESPN says fans who get ESPN through a pay-TV package from certain providers can watch in the ESPN app.

Streaming without cable

If you've cut the cord, you have two routes. One is ESPN's own streaming plan. The other is a live TV service. Most of them bundle ESPN with your local channels, and some of the cheapest plans carry ESPN without them.

ESPN Unlimited includes all of the ESPN networks, including ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN on ABC, plus NFL Network, in the ESPN app. ESPN also sells a Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Unlimited bundle from $35.99 a month.

Among live TV streaming services, Sling's Essentials and Orange plans include ESPN and ESPN2 but no local channels. YouTube TV's Sports plan and main plan include all of the ESPN networks and local channels. DIRECTV's MySports pack includes ESPN Unlimited, with local channels in select markets. Hulu + Live TV includes ESPN and ABC, and its plans include ESPN Unlimited access in the ESPN app. Which local ABC station you get depends on your ZIP code.

NFL+ ($6.99 a month) also streams Monday games live, but only on a phone or tablet.

Alternate telecasts and the Spanish broadcast

Monday night also has alternate telecasts, and they air on different channels from the main game.

• Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli (the ManningCast) is on ESPN2 and the ESPN app at 8 p.m. ET. ESPN announced 11 regular-season dates this season, with one more to come, plus the Super Bowl.
• Monday Night Football Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show airs on ESPN2 on five Monday nights and one Week 18 Saturday game. From Week 6 on, ESPN2 carries one of the two shows every week of the regular season.
• MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats is an analytics-focused telecast on NFL Network on seven Monday nights and both Week 18 Saturday games.

All three are available in the ESPN app with ESPN Unlimited.

ESPN offers a Spanish-language telecast of every ESPN game, most of them on ESPN Deportes.

When the Monday game changes

The NFL can flex Monday Night Football from Week 12 to Week 17. A Sunday afternoon game moves to Monday night and the original Monday game moves to Sunday afternoon. The league generally announces a flex at least 12 days ahead.

Monday games kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET (5:15 p.m. PT) unless the schedule says otherwise.

What we found

Based on ESPN's and the streaming services' prices and this season's schedule, checked Oct. 25, 2026:

• An antenna alone misses most Monday games that are only on ESPN, unless your local team is playing. ESPN's schedule lists eight Monday games on ESPN only, and one more is set to be added to ABC.
• ESPN on a TV starts at about $4.61 per game (Sling Essentials). For the 13 games left in the regular season, ESPN Unlimited costs about $7.38 per game. Your TV login may already include ESPN.
• A football-only fan should pay monthly. Three monthly payments cover the rest of the regular season, including the Week 18 Saturday games, so the annual plan doesn't pay off.

Monday nights on ESPN

See upcoming games on ESPN, with kickoff times and every other sport on the network.

ESPN TV schedule

More NFL viewing guides: Thursday Night Football · NFL on Thanksgiving