On September 13th, ESPN stumbled on its most popular program since First Take: the Peyton and Eli Monday Night Football broadcast. The sports media conglomerate signed a deal with the NFL to air Monday night games on their networks, then brought in the Manning brothers to call ten of the 17 games on their second channel, ESPN2.

 After their retirements, both Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks were looking to get more involved in football, with Peyton hosting Peyton’s Places and Eli starting the offshoot Eli’s Places this fall, both on ESPN+.

The “ManningCast” has been nothing short of excellent. Instead of the traditional announcer-color commentator format, the Mannings have created a new approach to watching football.

The two have a more relaxed feel and aren’t pressed with hyper-analyzing each play; the broadcast truly resembles a night at a sports bar with the Manning brothers. The two switch seamlessly from jokes, glimpses in the huddle, anecdotes from their careers, and thorough breakdowns of major plays.

Not only do Peyton and Eli run the show, but they also bring in celebrity guests to interview each quarter. Athletes like Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, Russell Wilson, and Brett Favre have all appeared on the telecast and made fun of Peyton’s unusually large forehead. The interviews with Wilson and Favre have been the most insightful as the quarterbacks all have different approaches to the same situation.

The show has also brought in Hall-of-Fame linebackers Ray Lewis and Patrick Willis. Both did a great job breaking down the defenses in the games and how they would mess with the quarterback’s head when they played.

The mechanics of the show itself hasn’t been perfect, but it only adds to its charm. The Week 1 broadcast started off with Peyton putting on a helmet that was way too small, and then immediately acting like Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden. There have been production workers tiptoeing in the background, Eli’s mic has cut off a few times, and they cut to commercial during conversations with guests.

What would be detractors to a more formal production are what make this show feel more authentic. Nobody minds awkward silence after Peyton and Eli try to talk over one another on the Zoom call because the public has been dealing with the same issues the past year and a half. 

It’s early, but there’s a sense of community being fostered through this broadcast, which is why there was a 132% ManningCast viewership increase from Week 1 to Week 2, according to Yahoo Sports.

The broadcast’s success comes as a much-needed relief for The Worldwide Leader in Sports considering their fiasco earlier this year. On July 4th the New York Times published an exposé on the brewing racial issue between two of the company’s biggest talents, Maria Taylor and Rachel Nichols.

During the NBA Bubble last year, Taylor, a Black woman, was given the job to host the pregame and halftime shows during the NBA Finals. Nicholas, who is White and originally moved to the sideline reporting job, was caught on tape complaining about the situation.

“If you need to give her more things to do because you’re feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity… go for it, just find it somewhere else. Like, you’re not going to find it with me, and taking my thing away” (New York Times).

According to the article, ESPN knew about the tape, yet instead of punishing Nichols they decided to keep quiet. In fact, the woman who showed Taylor the clip (who happened to be Black as well) was punished, along with the Black employees who came to her defense.

Nichols has since left the company, and Taylor accepted an offer from NBC Sports in August to cover the Olympics.

ESPN also had another, smaller issue in the past few weeks with the face of the company, Stephen A. Smith, strong-arming former co-host Max Kellerman off First Take. The show has taken a different approach, electing to have a rotating cast of debaters to challenge Smith.

Again, the timing and popularity of the ManningCast could not be more perfect. Each Monday night, sports social media is buzzing with quotes from the Mannings or their guests, ranging from silly jokes to Rob Gronkowski admitting he never watches film and relying on Tom Brady to tell him what to do. There have been calls for ESPN to put the show on its main channel considering its sudden success, but for now, let’s enjoy the wackiness that is the Peyton and Eli Monday Night Football broadcast.