Who’s Playing Monday Night Football Tonight? Teams, Time

If you’re asking “who’s playing Monday Night Football tonight,” you’re probably either a diehard NFL fan or someone who stumbled onto ESPN’s late-night lineup while channel-surfing. Either way, you’ve landed in the right place. This piece cuts through the confusion around the MNF doubleheader format, gives you tonight’s confirmed matchups, and explains why ESPN has been reshuffling its Monday night coverage this season.

Recent MNF Result: BUF @ ATL (ATL 24, BUF 14) · Recent MNF Result: CHI @ WSH (CHI 25, WSH 24) · Primary Broadcaster: ESPN · Schedule Source: ESPN MNF

Who’s playing Monday Night Football tonight?

The NFL has used a doubleheader format for Monday Night Football in certain weeks, splitting coverage between ESPN and ABC so two games air on the same evening. This creates the situation where viewers ask “who’s playing MNF tonight” and find two answers rather than one.

Game 1 matchup

The first game in a Week 4 2025 doubleheader featured the New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins, with the Jets traveling to Hard Rock Stadium. That contest aired at 7:15 p.m. ET on ESPN (CBSSports). The Dolphins hosted, giving them the prime-time home advantage in a key AFC matchup.

Game 2 matchup

Running concurrently or immediately after, the Cincinnati Bengals @ Denver Broncos kicked off at 8:15 p.m. ET on ABC (CBSSports). This marked the second of four planned MNF doubleheaders in the 2025 season as part of ESPN and ABC’s extended broadcast package.

The pattern distinguishes between consecutive doubleheaders (where games run one after the other) and simultaneous doubleheaders (where ESPN and ABC air games at overlapping times). Week 4 2025 used simultaneous coverage.

What time is kickoff for Monday Night tonight?

Standard MNF kickoff runs at 8:15 p.m. ET for the primary game. However, doubleheader weeks introduce an earlier window: the first game often starts at 7:15 p.m. ET on ESPN, with the second game following at 8:15 p.m. ET on ABC (CBSSports). This two-window approach lets ESPN feature a separate game on its main channel while ABC carries the marquee matchup.

ET start time

For viewers in the Eastern Time zone, the 7:15 p.m. ET window gives you an earlier start if you’re watching the first game of a doubleheader. The 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff remains the industry standard for primetime NFL coverage and applies to single-game MNF nights.

UK viewing adjustments

Sky Sports holds the UK rights to NFL coverage, including Monday Night Football. UK viewers should add roughly five hours to Eastern Time for the conversion—meaning a 7:15 p.m. ET game starts around 12:15 a.m. GMT the following morning, and an 8:15 p.m. ET game airs around 1:15 a.m. GMT.

Why are there two Monday Night games tonight?

The overlapping MNF doubleheader format traces back to the 2021 media rights deal, when ESPN and ABC both gained NFL broadcast rights and began coordinating schedules. The arrangement let ESPN and ABC air separate games simultaneously, giving the league maximum primetime exposure across two networks (Sports Media Watch). However, ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro acknowledged that overlapping doubleheaders suffered from cannibalization—viewers split between two games rather than consolidating ratings on one matchup.

Doubleheader reasons

The NFL’s rationale for doubleheaders was simple: more games in the prime-time slot means more opportunities to attract casual viewers who might watch any NFL game on a given night. ESPN and ABC split the cost and coverage, with each network getting a featured game while sharing the production burden.

Week schedule changes

Starting with the 2026 season, ESPN is abandoning overlapping doubleheaders. The network will move to exclusive windows where a single MNF game airs on one channel at a time, increasing what ESPN calls “clean windows” from 22 to 28 annually (Sports Media Watch). The only exception: one retained annual doubleheader during Week 18, which runs on Saturday instead of Monday.

Who’s showing Monday Night Football tonight?

In the US, ESPN serves as the primary broadcaster for Monday Night Football, with ABC handling split doubleheaders or marquee matchups that warrant wider distribution. ESPN’s main channel carries the first game in doubleheader weeks, while ABC takes the second slot at 8:15 p.m. ET. Both networks simulcast on ESPN+ for streaming subscribers (Wikipedia).

US broadcasters

Your viewing options in the United States: ESPN on cable or satellite, ABC on broadcast, ESPN+ for streaming-only subscribers, and fubo for cord-cutters who want both networks in one package (CBSSports). The ESPN B-team broadcast—featuring Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky, and Louis Riddick—covers secondary windows, while the primary Monday night crew handles marquee matchups.

UK TV options

Sky Sports holds UK broadcast rights for NFL coverage, which includes Monday Night Football when matchups feature British-friendly teams or high-profile quarterbacks. BBC provides live scoring updates and highlights for viewers who want game tracking without a full broadcast subscription. However, specific Sky Sports scheduling for future MNF doubleheaders remains unconfirmed in publicly available sources.

Is there an NFL game on tonight?

If tonight falls within the NFL regular season (September through January), then yes: there’s almost certainly an NFL game, and on Mondays during the season, that game is Monday Night Football. However, if you’re checking in April, you’ll find no NFL games scheduled—the league’s regular season does not extend into spring. ESPN’s schedule for late April shows MLB coverage, like Chicago White Sox @ Miami Marlins at 6:40 p.m., with no NFL inventory (ESPN).

Tonight confirmation

To confirm whether an NFL game is airing tonight, check ESPN’s MNF schedule page for the current season. The league releases its full schedule each spring, with mid-season flex scheduling allowing the NFL to move games out of problematic slots. But Monday nights remain locked—flex scheduling does not shift games from the Monday primetime window.

Schedule overview

The 2025 MNF schedule included notable matchups like Detroit @ Baltimore (DET 38, BAL 30), Kansas City @ Jacksonville (JAX 31, KC 28), and Washington @ Kansas City (KC 28, WSH 7) (ESPN). Recent results also showed Buffalo @ Atlanta (ATL 24, BUF 14) and Chicago @ Washington (CHI 25, WSH 24), demonstrating the variety of AFC and NFC matchups ESPN has featured this season.

The shift away from overlapping MNF doubleheaders signals ESPN’s priority shift from volume to value. Rather than splitting viewers across two games and two networks, the network wants consolidated audiences that deliver stronger ratings for advertisers. The Week 18 Saturday doubleheader remains as a scheduling safety valve for the league’s final playoff-positioning games, but the era of watching two Monday night games simultaneously is ending.