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Good News for Tony Khan as WWE Could Face Ratings Challenge With Monday Night Football’s Return to ABC

Published Sep 19, 2023 | 9:00 AM EDT

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WWE has dominated the Monday nights with their weekly broadcasts of the RAW. The show has garnered significant popularity and has been a staple for years now. This show has given us many stars that we know and love. But there is a dark cloud looming over the show.

The media giant ABC has decided to broadcast this year’s entire NFL season. Could this mean bad news for WWE and a small victory for Tony Khan?

Monday Night RAW is in peril

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ABC Network has decided that they will be broadcasting the entire ongoing season of the NFL. The NFL and ESPN have been experimenting with Monday Night Football for a very long time. This time around things will be different. This year’s season will be having two doubleheaders, one in week two and one in week three. This means that there will be two matches in a single day, one after the other.

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ABC now holds the rights to broadcast one of the two games. One was aired last night and the next will be aired on the Monday evening of next week. Apart from this, they are set to simulcast the NFL games on November 20th and December 25th. They will also be broadcasting an additional game on 11th December.

All these dates fall on a Monday. The season opener of the Monday Night Football was aired across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 on September 11th. This broadcasting saw a record-breaking number in viewership since the NFL began broadcasting on cable networks.

With this move by ABC, WWE is shaken. The question that most of the fans are asking is why ABC decided to make such a massive move. How does it affect WWE? Will Tony Khan benefit from it?

Tony Khan vs WWE vs ABC

This decision was made by ABC amidst the strikes going on in Hollywood. The ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have impacted the production of TV shows and movies. Due to this many fan-favorite shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Will Trent, and so on won’t be returning for their fall season on the network.

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Moreover, as the NFL wants to make Monday Night football official, ABC decided to ride on it as they saw a significant viewership on the opening night. Compared to ESPN, which is the home of WWE and RAW, ABC has a wider audience. On a general basis, the viewership of ABC is more when compared to ESPN.

With ABC broadcasting America’s favorite sport, it will be hard for both WWE and ESPN to beat those numbers. This could mean it is a great opportunity for Tony Khan as well. His promotion, AEW has been in turmoil for some time. It was recently announced that RVD will be making his comeback to AEW, which could potentially boost ratings. But if Khan capitalizes on this moment by bringing in more stars, he might be able to get ahead of WWE.

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A lot could happen in the coming weeks. Fans will have to wait and see how Vince McMahon combats this situation and how Tony Khan will use this moment to his advantage.

Watch This Story: Logical Reasons Why Edge Will Reunite With Christian To Face The Hardy’s At AEW All In Just Days After Emotional WWE Exit

Written by:

Shaikh Aerajuddin

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Shaikh Aerajuddin is a WWE writer at EssentiallySports. With a Masters degree in Sports Science, Aeraj always carries a keen eye for detail and understands the various nuances of pro wrestling beyond the ring. Being a pro wrestling fan from his childhood, Aeraj now uses his analytical mind to tell a story in his articles for ES.
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Edited by:

Stefan Thomas