NFL
Why are there two Monday Night Football games in NFL Week 4?
NFL fans are to be treated to another Monday Night Football doubleheader, as the Dolphins host the Titans and the Seahawks visit the Lions.
Week 4 of the 2024 NFL regular season comes to a close today, when there will be not one, but two Monday Night Football games. The Miami Dolphins host the Tennessee Titans at 7:30 p.m. ET, shortly before the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks round off the action with a clash that begins at 8:15 p.m. ET.
Why are there two Monday Night Football games today?
Tonight’s MNF doubleheader is the second of four in the 2024-25 NFL season. MNF has been a staple of the NFL since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. At that time, it was only ABC which had the rights to televise the Monday game, and there was only one MNF match-up per week while NBC and CBS broadcast the Sunday games.
From 1987 until 2006, ESPN took over the rights for Sunday Night Football. In 2006, ESPN took over the rights for Monday Night Football in an eight-year deal and NBC took over Sunday Night Football. During those years, ESPN would broadcast 17 MNF games at 8:30 p.m. ET. and the very first MNF doubleheader was broadcast on September 11, 2006. The idea was to have one game on the East Coast and one on the West Coast, so in the first two-game MNF, the Washington Redskins hosted the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders played the San Diego Chargers.
In 2021, ESPN, the Walt Disney Company, and the NFL signed a 10-year deal that would start in September 2023 and would increase MNF games from 17 to 23. So it’s only within the last year that ESPN has begun to broadcast MNF games on an overlapping time schedule. In 2023, there were three MNF doubleheaders, including two games in December which kicked off at the same time.
2024 NFL Monday Night Football doubleheaders
- Week 3 (September 23):
- 7:30 p.m. ET - Jacksonville Jaguars vs Buffalo Bills
- 8:15 p.m. ET - Washington Commanders vs Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 4 (September 30):
- 7:30 p.m. ET - Tennessee Titans vs Miami Dolphins
- 8:15 p.m. ET - Seattle Seahawks vs Detroit Lions
- Week 7 (October 21):
- 8:15 p.m. ET - Baltimore Ravens vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 9:00 p.m. ET - Los Angeles Chargers vs Arizona Cardinals
- Week 15 (December 16):
- 8:00 p.m. ET - Chicago Bears vs Minnesota Vikings
- 8:30 p.m. ET Atlanta Falcons vs Las Vegas Raiders
Titans vs Dolphins, Seahawks vs Lions: how to watch
Viewers in the US will be able to watch the Titans vs the Dolphins on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, while the Seahawks vs the Lions will be broadcast on ABC and ESPN+. If you don’t have cable, you can enjoy both games on the online platform fubo, which offers new users a free trial.
After successive defeats to the Buffalo Bills and the Seahawks, the Dolphins go into Week 4 with a 2-1 record. The Titans, meanwhile, are 0-3 after losing to the Chicago Bears, the New York Jets and the Green Bay Packers.
Detroit are 2-1 after three games, having beaten the Los Angeles Rams and the Arizona Cardinals either side of a defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Lions host a Seattle team that boasts a 100% record so far, in the wake of victories over the Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots and the Dolphins.