NFL hurt Chargers fans and didn't even pull a good rating with ESPN+ stunt

Chris Roling | Oct 24, 2024

Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Some Los Angeles Chargers fans on the west coast had to jump through streaming hoops to see the team’s Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 7. 

And the streaming-only second game in a doubleheader on a staggered start didn’t even pull a good rating. 

According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the game only pulled an audience of 1.8 million. It’s a horrific number, considering the Baltimore Ravens vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers matchup that aired on ABC and ESPN networks did 16 million or more. The week prior’s game did more than 17 million. 

Chargers fans not in specific local places could only see the loss to the Cardinals on ESPN+ streaming. It was the second in the doubleheader, overlapping with the first in a strange 9 p.m. ET start time and, frankly, not all that appetizing of a matchup. 

Maybe the experiment produced numbers those involved like. But for most fans, a staggered doubleheader probably wasn’t great. And for Chargers fans, it outright stunk, which is fitting because the game stunk too while the team went down 17-15 while settling for five field goals despite Justin Herbert’s near-400-yard outburst. 

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