ESPN, the US media giant owned by Disney, has secured domestic coverage rights to the Monday Wild Card playoff game from American football’s NFL, for the next five years.

The broadcaster, it announced yesterday, will cover the league’s first scheduled weekday playoff game in prime-time, on 17 January next year, with the rights deal running until 2026.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Premium Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Related Company Profiles

View all

ESPN already covers the regular-season NFL games on Mondays (MNF) and has done since 2006, so this deal represents the addition of a supplementary set of rights.

As well as being shown on ESPN’s linear channels, the Monday playoff game will also be streamed on the Spanish-language ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s sister network ABC and the NFL’s own digital and social media platforms.

The NFL first announced last month that it would include a Monday game during the 2022 post-season’s opening round – for the first time ever. It will be the sixth contest of the Super Wild Card Weekend, which was first brought in last year after the league expanded to a 14-team playoff system.

See Also:

The Monday game will be the finale of the Wild Card Weekend. Two games will take place on Saturday 15 January, three on Sunday 16 and the last one on Monday.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

For the other five encounters, aside from the Monday game, national networks CBS and NBC will air two each, with rival Fox to show the other.

In terms of the NFL’s regular-season domestic rights agreements, ESPN/ABC shares live game rights with CBS, Fox, NBC and internet giant Amazon, with the current arrangement running until the end of the 2033 campaign.

ESPN, through its international network, also covers the league in Australia, Latin America and New Zealand.