Football fans swiftly expressed their satisfaction after the NFL announced that it would be scrapping ‘Monday Night Football’ doubleheaders starting next season
09:04 ET, 01 Apr 2026Updated 09:04 ET, 01 Apr 2026
The NFL is scrapping 'Monday Night Football' doubleheaders
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The NFL is scrapping 'Monday Night Football' doubleheaders(Image: Getty Images)
Football fans saw their wish granted after the NFL decided to scrap its divisive ‘Monday Night Football’ doubleheaders.
During this week’s NFL annual league meeting in Phoenix, NFL executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder confirmed that ESPN will no longer broadcast overlapping games on Monday. Since the 2021 campaign, the league screened two contests simultaneously or three hours apart on Monday night.
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‘Monday Night Football’ doubleheaders predominantly occurred during the first half of the NFL campaign, with two MNF games being aired in Week 2, Week 4, Week 6, Week 7 and Week 18 of last season. The news confirms after the NFL also introduced five massive rule changes including a drastic temporary measure for the 2026 season.
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“When we did the deal [with Disney] five years ago, we thought adding two games on Monday night would be a great thing for fans,” Schroeder said.
“It was more free football that was sort of outside of a Sunday afternoon. I think we collectively struggled and realized that fans felt that they were conflicted to choose between those games.”
As for what the NFL plans to do with the five games that would’ve been part of doubleheader packages, Schroeder revealed that the league will consider placing them in unconventional slots — including a potential contest on Thanksgiving Eve.
“When we look at the calendar, and look at other natural nights that could serve our fans and deliver unique-sized audiences, that’s a night that jumps out to us,” Schroeder added.
“Thanksgiving is about football, family, friends increasingly, and we think we’re a big part of that. You saw that last year with some of the numbers on Thursday, and really throughout the year. Great numbers on Black Friday, too.
'Monday Night Football' doubleheaders have drawn criticism from fans in recent years
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'Monday Night Football' doubleheaders have drawn criticism from fans in recent years(Image: Getty Images)
“We think this is the natural way to continue to grow things but we’re going to look, and like I said earlier, we want to hear what the market thinks about it.
There are obviously a number of different options and ways and pieces, ways the puzzle could come together. But we think that’s a super interesting one, as far as an opportunity for this season.”
Taking to social media, droves of viewers applauded the NFL for recognizing their mistake with MNF doubleheaders.
“Good! Those overlapping game times, even if staggered, were annoying,” an X user wrote, with another adding: “Finally the NFL is making a good move. Nobody wants to flip games on Mondays.”
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A third chimed in: “NFL finally realized nobody asked for double chaos on Monday nights. Scrapping the split games and tossing them elsewhere maybe even Thanksgiving Eve just feels like fixing a problem they created in the first place.”
Yet not everyone seems to be thrilled by the idea of watching NFL games during unconventional slots in the week or around the holidays. “Here I am thinking the NFL was doing something nice for the fans when it turns out they just decided to f--- them in a different way,” one person said.
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Someone else argued: “NFL falling off we don’t want extra game we don’t want games in the middle of the week and we don’t want international games.”