Twice as much football, twice as much fun?

That appears to be the NFL’s approach for some Monday nights this year. There are four weeks of a Monday Night Football doubleheader this regular season, continuing the scheduling quirk that has become the norm since 2022.

Why are there several Mondays with two games this season?

It is the result of an 11-year media rights deal the NFL signed in March 2021. The deal, which included existing broadcast partners as well as Amazon Prime Video, secured more content for Disney by increasing the number of games on ESPN and ABC from 17 to 23.

There was a MNF doubleheader in Week 2 of the 2022 season and four multi-game Monday Night Football weeks in 2023 (including the three-game Christmas Day schedule in Week 16).

Who is playing?

The overlapping Monday night games begin tonight with the Jacksonville Jaguars taking on the Buffalo Bills at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Washington Commanders taking on the Cincinnati Bengals at 8:15 p.m. ET.

In Week 4, the Tennessee Titans will play the Miami Dolphins at 7:30 p.m. ET while the Seattle Seahawks will face the Detroit Lions at 8:15 p.m. ET. These games will take place on September 30th.

Week 7 brings two late Monday games on October 21. The Baltimore Ravens travel to Tampa Bay to kick off against the Buccaneers at 8:15 p.m. ET, and the Los Angeles Chargers game against the Arizona Cardinals follows at 9 p.m. ET.

There is only one Monday night double-booked in the second half of the regular season. To close out Week 15, the Chicago Bears play the Minnesota Vikings at 8 p.m. ET, while the Las Vegas Raiders host the Atlanta Falcons on December 16 at 8:30 p.m. ET.

How do the simultaneous broadcasts work?

For most overlapping MNF games, one game will air on ABC and ESPN+ while the other will be broadcast on ESPN. The Chargers-Cardinals game that concludes Week 7 will stream exclusively on ESPN+.

(Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)