The game averaged just 11.9 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes.This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners.If you sign up or place a wager, FOX News may be compensated.
This content was created by a team that works independently from the FOX newsroom.For context, the Week 3 Monday night game between the Eagles and Bears drew 22.6 million viewers, nearly double the audience.New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough passes as Atlanta Falcons defensive end Samson Ebukam applies pressure during the first half of an NFL game in New Orleans on Monday, Oct.5, 2026.
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)A week-over-week decline of roughly 50% is rare.But the disparity also illustrates why neither ESPN nor the NFL should be particularly concerned about Monday's unusually poor number.Through the first three weeks of the season, Monday Night Football had averaged 21.8 million viewers.
Monday's game dropped the season average to 19.325 million.WWE'S MICHAEL COLE REFUSES TO DIP HIS TOE INTO POLITICAL WATERS, BUCKING TREND AMONG SPORTS BROADCASTERSThe decline is almost certainly attributable to the matchup and the game itself.Neither the Falcons nor the Saints is much of a national draw in its current form.
Perhaps Michael Penix Jr.and Tyler Shough will become attractions.
Today, they are not.It was also an ugly and largely uncompetitive game, with Atlanta ultimately winning 45-24.The NFL and ESPN likely knew this wouldn't be a marquee matchup.Instead, they marketed the night around the 20th anniversary of the Saints' return to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina.
In that 2006 game, New Orleans defeated Atlanta after Steve Gleason blocked a punt in one of the defining moments in franchise history, a play now immortalized with a statue outside the stadium.The pregame commemoration of that anniversary was well done, even if more fans than usual skipped the game that followed.New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) throws a pas...