Sling TV
Streams ABC or ESPN and ESPN2 for $40 or $45 per month respectively
Fubo
Streams ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 for $92 or $95 per month
Aaron Rodgers is back at quarterback for New York, and Jets fans are hoping his second season lasts longer than his first. Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon in his fourth game of the season last year – also on a Monday night – which abruptly ended his season and, as it turned out, the Jets’ season as well.
The 49ers’ season didn’t end until the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Chiefs in overtime. San Francisco enters this season with Achilles issues of its own, most notably the calf/Achilles strain of star running back Christian McCaffrey. He is the engine that drives the 49ers’ offense, although the team managed to keep receiver Brandon Aiyuk and extend quarterback favorite Brock Purdy after considering transfer offers for him this summer.
The Jets and Niners start in San Francisco tonight at 5:15 p.m. PT (8:15 p.m. ET) on ABC, ESPN and ESPN Plus. You can turn to ESPN2 or ESPN+ during the game to watch the ManningCast with brothers Peyton and Eli, who are back for another year of their alternative show where guests stop by to chat with former NFL greats.
If you don’t have a cable or satellite TV subscription, you can watch Monday Night Football using a live TV streaming service. The good news for football fans is that ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 are available on four of the five major streaming services – all except DirecTV Stream due to the ongoing dispute between DirecTV and Disney.
Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets begin the 2024 NFL season on Monday night in San Francisco against the 49ers.
How to watch MNF without cable
The primary broadcaster for Monday Night Football is ESPN. Almost every Monday night game is shown on ESPN, and for seven weeks on ABC and ESPN Plus. There are four Monday night doubleheaders this season (Weeks 3, 4, 7 and 15). During those weeks, one game will be broadcast on ESPN and the other on ABC or ESPN Plus.
The ManningCast on ESPN2 is scheduled for 11 Monday nights and one Wild Card game during the season, with six of those regular-season Monday nights and the Wild Card game also streaming on ESPN Plus.
Wait, what’s going on with DirecTV and Disney?
There is a legal dispute between DirecTV and Disney that has led Disney to remove its channels, including ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, from DirecTV’s satellite and streaming services.
This battle goes beyond the usual haggling over licensing fees that comes up from time to time — as recently as last year, when DirecTV and Spectrum settled a licensing dispute on the first Monday of the NFL season. DirecTV and Disney are embroiled in a larger conflict over the bundling model; DirecTV wants to offer cheaper plans for non-sports fans that don’t include ESPN, and Disney wants to protect the current packages that include more of its channels.
If you subscribe to DirecTV via a satellite dish or the live TV streaming service DirecTV Stream, you won’t be able to watch tonight’s game on ESPN. And it looks like many 49ers and Jets fans who wanted to watch the game on ABC are out of luck, too. Many ABC channels are still available on DirecTV, but not the eight ABC networks that are still owned by Disney, including KABC in San Francisco and WABC in New York. And no matter where you live, ABC has been removed from the channel lineup for all DirecTV Stream subscribers.
There are no signs from either side that the ongoing battle between DirecTV and Disney will be resolved before kickoff tonight.
ABC and ESPN are blocked at my house. What should I do?
If you want to continue your DirecTV subscription and watch Monday Night Football tonight, the easiest way is to sign up for a month of ESPN Plus for $11. This will allow you to toggle between tonight’s regular broadcast with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman and the alternate ManningCast with Peyton, Eli and various guests. Be warned, though, that neither the main Monday Night Football broadcast next week nor the ManningCast will be on ESPN Plus. You can watch one game of the MNF doubleheader on ESPN Plus in Weeks 3 and 4, but the ManningCast doesn’t return to ESPN Plus until Week 7.
The other option is to ditch DirecTV and sign up for a live TV streaming service. Our favorite for football fans is YouTube TV. It costs $73 and offers the major Disney channels that were removed from DirectTV – ABC, ESPN, Disney Plus, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FX and National Geographic. It also offers a 21-day trial that gives you three more MNF games so DirecTV and Disney can come to an agreement before you have to start paying.
Tonight’s game will stream on ESPN Plus, but there are only two other weeks during the regular season that feature the main MNF broadcast. It will be the only way to watch the Week 7 MNF game between the Chargers and Cardinals — that’s exclusive to ESPN Plus. There’s no Monday night game on the final weekend of the season, but you can watch a doubleheader on ESPN Plus on Saturday of Week 18 — those two games will also air on ABC and ESPN.
You can also watch the ManningCast on ESPN Plus for five weeks this season, starting in Week 1 and ending on Wild Card weekend in January.
ESPN Plus costs $11 per month (or $110 per year). Read our full ESPN Plus review.
YouTube TV costs $73 per month and includes ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. Currently, the first four months are discounted to $65 per month. There’s also a 21-day free trial. Enter your zip code on the YouTube TV welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.
Read our YouTube TV review.
Sling TV’s Sling Orange plan includes ESPN and ESPN2 but not ABC, and the Blue plan includes ABC (only in a few markets) but no ESPN channel. Each plan costs $45 per month in the areas with ABC and $40 in other areas. The combined Orange and Blue plan costs $55 or $60 per month.
Read our review of Sling TV.
Hulu Plus Live TV costs $77 and includes ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. On the live news page, you can enter your zip code under the question “Can I watch local news in my area?” at the bottom of the page to see what local channels you receive.
Read our review of Hulu with Live TV.
Fubo’s basic package costs $80 a month and includes ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2, but Fubo charges an RSN fee (either $12 a month if you have one RSN, or $15 a month if you have two or more in your area), which brings the monthly fee to $92 or $95. Fubo is currently offering $30 off the first month of some of its packages, meaning you can get the basic Pro package for $62 or $65 at launch. Click here to see which local channels you get.
Read our Fubo review.
All of the live TV streaming services above allow you to cancel at any time and require a stable internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our guide to live TV streaming services.
