It is a rarity that record ratings highs are nothing to celebrate, but that is the situation ESPN is facing today. Monday night's game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals was expected to be one of the league's best games of the year. Instead, it was tragedy and fear that brought viewers to their televisions.
Across ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, and ESPN Deportes, an average audience of 23.6 million people watched as broadcasters tried to make sense of what they were seeing as Bills safety Damar Hamlin had to be revived on the field by first responders during the first quarter. The audience was calculated between 8:28 p.m. and 10:10 p.m. when ESPN went to SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt.
That is the biggest audience for Monday Night Football since it became an ESPN property in 2006. The previous high was 21.8 million viewers for the Packers and Vikings in 2009.
Don't expect a celebration though. Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reports that a Disney spokesman has said that the network may not include the numbers for Week 17 in its 2022 season average. It may not even consider them a part of the Monday Night Football historical record, given the terrible circumstances.
On Thursday, Dr. Timothy Pritts updated Hamlin's condition saying that he is awake and following commands.
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