Sunday Night Football

Monday Night Football moving to ESPN in 2006
By DAVID BARRON
Houston Chronicle

Monday Night Football will move to ESPN from ABC beginning with the 2006 season for the blockbuster sum of $1.1 billion per year for eight years, and NBC will return to the NFL with a six-year deal to telecast Sunday night games for an estimated $600 million per year, industry sources said Monday.

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue confirmed the new contracts in a statement from the league that did not address the reported contract figures.

"These agreements improve our television arrangements for fans," Tagliabue said. "They underscore our unique commitment to broadcast television and our tradition of delivering our games to the widest possible audience.

"In the current media environment, Sunday is now the better night for our prime-time broadcast package. The earlier kickoff times for both packages, NBC's Sunday night programming devoted to the NFL, and flexible scheduling for Sunday night are all positive changes. ESPN will continue to do a tremendous job of reaching a wide audience on basic cable with Monday Night Football."

NBC scheduled a 4:30 p.m. CDT conference call to announce its return to the NFL for the first time since 1997, when the network lost out to CBS for the AFL package beginning in 1998. ABC, which will lose the Monday night franchise it debuted in 1970, and ESPN had no immediate comment.

Monday night games on ESPN will kick off at 7:40 p.m., about a half-hour earlier than the games on ABC, the league said.

All Super Bowls, however, will remain on over-the-air television. NBC's contract includes the Super Bowls in 2009 and 2012 and two Pro Bowls, the league said.

ESPN's Monday night package is for regular season games only. NBC will show 17 regular-season Sunday games with two wild card playoffs and three prime-time pre-season games each year. Sunday games will start at 7:15 p.m., and NBC will have a flexible scheduling option for the final seven weeks of the season.