Monday Night Football Moves to ESPN

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“Monday Night Football,” a 35-year tradition on ABC, is moving to ESPN in a new 8-year deal.

The agreement, announced on Monday by the National Football League, ESPN and ABC, came at the same time that rival broadcaster NBC said they had reached a six-season deal for NBC to acquire Sunday NFL games, previously aired on ESPN.

Individuals familiar with both packages said ESPN will pay the NFL $1.1 billion a year for the “Monday Night Football” franchise, while NBC has agreed to pay $600 million a year for 16 regular-season Sunday night games and the annual Thursday season opener.

The NBC package will also include two playoff games as well as the 2009 and 2012 Super Bowl games, the NFL said.

Both deals go into effect starting with the 2006 football season.

The show has been a mainstay of ABC’s prime-time schedule and the most watched weekly sports event on American television since its launch in 1970.

Although ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson had said months ago that he expected his network to renew its “MNF” contract, the new ESPN deal was not considered a surprise.

Despite its ratings success, advertising revenues have never covered the show’s costs. ABC, which pays $550 million a year for the games under its current contract with the NFL, has been losing roughly $150 million a year on the franchise.

George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN Inc. and ABC Sports, said the network would continue “to deliver double-digit growth to Disney over the next five years, and we couldn’t do that without a sound economic deal with the NFL.”

Money-losing ABC has dragged down Disney earnings for years, but the company says the network could return to profit this year.

“It’s tough for ABC to say goodbye to a landmark institution like this, but with the progress we’re making on our entertainment programing, we’re not looking back. It’s been a wonderful 36-year run,” Bodenheimer told reporters in a conference call.

Credit: Yahoo/AP