ESPN's Monday Night Football Game Has Best Overnight Rating Since 2014

Last night's ESPN MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL game - a thrilling Los Angeles Rams' 54-51 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs that produced the most combined points in a game in MNF history - earned an 11.3 overnight rating according to Nielsen, based on the metered markets. It is the best overnight rating for an ESPN MNF game since 2014 (12.1, Dallas-Washington, 10/27/2014) and ESPN's highest overnight rating since the COLLEGE FOOTBALL Playoff National Championship Game on January 8.

The Chiefs-Rams overnight rating also represents a 57 percent increase over the 7.2 rating for the week 11 game (Atlanta-Seattle) in 2017.

The game rating peaked at 12.5 on the final drive from 11:45 p.m. - 12 a.m. ET as Patrick Mahomes attempted to lead the Chiefs down the field.

Originally scheduled to be played in Mexico City as part of the 2018 NFL International Series, the Chiefs-Rams game was moved on Nov. 14 to the Los Angeles Coliseum. Last night's game was the first MNF game played in Los Angeles in 33 years (October 28, 1985).

Local markets:

· In Kansas City, the game delivered a 16.6 rating on ESPN and a 36.2 rating on KMBC-ABC, for a combined 52.8 rating in the market.

· In Los Angeles, the game delivered a 10.4 rating on ESPN - the highest rating in the market since 2016 - and a 9.2 on KABC-ABC, for a combined 19.6 rating in the market.

Top 10 markets:

The top 10 metered markets (not including those of the competing teams): New Orleans (21.4), San Diego (16.2), Denver (15.7), Seattle-Tacoma (15.5), Phoenix (14.4), Albuquerque-Santa Fe (14.3), Richmond, Va. (14.0), Minneapolis-St. Paul (13.8), Washington, D.C. (13.8), and Las Vegas (13.7).

Postgame SPORTSCENTER with Scott Van Pelt - up 59 percent

The MNF postgame SPORTSCENTER with Scott Van Pelt continued its streak of year-over-year overnight ratings increases with a 3.0 average metered market rating last night, an increase of 59 percent vs. last year's comparable show (1.9).

Final numbers are expected late afternoon.

To post a comment, you must register and login.