ESPN has sold Sean McDonough’s demotion from Monday Night Football as a desire by McDonough to get back to college football. For his part, McDonough has oversold the supposedly voluntary step down.
“If you go back and look at the schedule, generally we got one of the worst NFL games each week,” McDonough said. “You’re trying to make something sound interesting and exciting that isn’t.”
Because McDonough still works for ESPN, some would say ESPN should have quickly issued a statement indicating that McDonough does not speak for the network on matters of this nature, and this his opinions are his own. ESPN also should have, arguably, disagreed with McDonough’s premise -- especially since it’s a little over the top to call the games pick for Monday Night Football “one of the worst NFL games each week.”
Instead, ESPN had no comment on McDonough’s remarks.
The no-comment decision speaks volumes. At a time when the ESPN-NFL relationship has reached a nadir, and in light of the recent explanation from John Ourand of SportsBusiness Journal that ESPN systematically has ensured that its fees to cable and satellite providers won’t be automatically reduced if ESPN doesn’t keep NFL programming, it’s hard not to wonder whether ESPN will pass on extending its rights contract with the league.
The current deal runs through 2021, a year before all other TV deals expire. Which leaves ESPN with no real alternative, unless it plans to bid on a different package and take a year off.
In the end, it simply may be that ESPN drops Monday Night Football. At most, ESPN could simulcast MNF games broadcast primarily on ABC, a sister company.
Regardless, this latest incident reconfirms that all currently isn’t well between football and Bristol.