The Dallas Cowboys’ escape with a 20-19 victory over the Detroit Lions on Saturday on a special weekend edition of ESPN‘s drew 25.7 million viewers, the network said Monday citing Nielsen fast nationals.
The Cowboys’ home victory in a battle of two postseason-bound NFL teams joined previous 2023 MNF games Eagles-Chiefs on November 22 and Ravens-49ers on Christmas Day as the three most-watched MNF games since 1997.
The 2023 Monday Night Football season is now officially the most-watched MNF season of the ESPN era, which began in 2006. The 20 games in 2023 averaged 17.1 million viewers, up 33% year-over-year.
The Cowboys-Lions game went down to the wire, with Detroit ultimately unable to score on a 2-point conversion late in the fourth quarter that would have given it the lead. With the close game, viewership averaged more than 27 million during much of the second half, Nielsen said.
The NFL on ESPN wraps its regular season Saturday with a doubleheader across ESPN, ABC and ESPN+, beginning with Ravens-Steelers at 4:30 p.m. ET and Texans-Colts at 8:15 p.m. ET. Both have playoff implications, with the Steelers looking to stay in postseason contention and the winner of the latter game clinching at least an AFC Wild Card spot.
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