Manningcast

Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, colloquially known as the Manningcast, is an American alternate live television broadcast of Monday Night Football hosted by brothers Peyton and Eli Manning, both former quarterbacks from the National Football League. It is produced by Peyton's production company Omaha Productions. The broadcasts air on ESPN2 and ESPN+ (select games) in the United States and TSN+ in Canada.^[1]

Manningcast
Also known as	Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli
Genre	NFL game telecasts
Created by	Peyton Manning
Presented by	Peyton Manning Eli Manning Bill Belichick
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	42
Production
Production location	Virtual
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	3–4 hours
Production companies	National Football League ESPN Omaha Productions
Original release
Network	ESPN2 ESPN+ (select games)
Release	September 13, 2021 (2021-09-13) – present
Related
Monday Night Countdown Monday Night Football

History

On July 19, 2021, ESPN announced that Peyton and Eli Manning would host an alternate presentation of Monday Night Football. The deal signed by ESPN and Omaha Productions (which produced the ESPN+ series Peyton's Places) was for three seasons and called for ten games each year. For the 2021 season, it was announced that the presentation would air for the first three weeks of the season (Ravens-Raiders, Lions-Packers and Eagles-Cowboys), with the final seven telecasts announced at a later date.^[2]

The first Manningcast aired on September 13, 2021, as an alternate presentation of the Monday Night Football game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens.^[3]

On November 13, 2021, ESPN announced that the presentation would also be offered for the network's Monday-night Wild Card Game during the 2021 playoffs.^[4] In February 2022, ESPN extended its contract through the 2024 NFL season, with Omaha Productions also slated to collaborate with ESPN on extending the format to other sports properties, such as college football, golf, and UFC events.^[5] The series received a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series at the 43rd Sports Emmy Awards on May 24, 2022.^[6]

On April 10, 2024, ESPN further extended its contract with Omaha Productions until 2034.^[7] The 2024 season will also see former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick appear on the broadcast during the first half of games.

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	10		September 13, 2021 (2021-09-13)	January 17, 2022 (2022-01-17)
2	10		September 12, 2022 (2022-09-12)	January 16, 2023 (2023-01-16)
3	11		September 11, 2023 (2023-09-11)	January 15, 2024 (2024-01-15)
4	11		September 9, 2024 (2024-09-09)	January 13, 2025 (2025-01-13)

Season 1 (2021–22)

No. overall	No. in season	Matchup	Original release date	Guest(s)	Viewers (millions)
1	1	"Baltimore Ravens at Las Vegas Raiders"[8]	September 13, 2021 (2021-09-13)	Charles Barkley, Ray Lewis, Travis Kelce, and Russell Wilson	0.80[9]
2	2	"Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers"[10]	September 20, 2021 (2021-09-20)	Brett Favre, Rob Gronkowski, Patrick Willis, and Pat McAfee	1.86[11]
3	3	"Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys"[12]	September 27, 2021 (2021-09-27)	Matthew Stafford, LeBron James, Nick Saban, and Chris Long	1.89[11]
4	4	"New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks"[13]	October 25, 2021 (2021-10-25)	Marshawn Lynch, Tom Brady, Sue Bird, and Drew Brees	1.61[11]
5	5	"New York Giants at Kansas City Chiefs"[14]	November 1, 2021 (2021-11-01)	Jon Stewart, Michael Strahan, Josh Allen, and Michael Irvin	1.96[11]
6	6	"Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers"[15]	November 15, 2021 (2021-11-15)	Al Michaels, Phil Mickelson, Draymond Green, and Philip Rivers	1.55[11]
7	7	"New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers"[16]	November 22, 2021 (2021-11-22)	Bill Parcells, Kevin Hart, Condoleezza Rice, and Julian Edelman	1.58[11]
8	8	"New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills"[17]	December 6, 2021 (2021-12-06)	David Letterman, Aqib Talib, and Joe Buck	1.63[11]
9	9	"Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers"[18]	January 3, 2022 (2022-01-03)	Bill Cowher, Roger Goodell, Snoop Dogg, and Aaron Rodgers	1.48[11]
10	10	"Wild Card: Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams"[19]	January 17, 2022 (2022-01-17)	Larry Fitzgerald, Dwayne Johnson, and Russell Wilson	1.42[20]

Season 2 (2022–23)

No. overall	No. in season	Matchup	Original release date	Guest(s)	Viewers (millions)
11	1	"Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks"[21]	September 12, 2022 (2022-09-12)	Saquon Barkley, Joel McHale, and Shannon Sharpe	1.50[22]
12	2	"Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants"	September 26, 2022 (2022-09-26)	Jimmy Johnson, Pat McAfee, and Tracy Morgan	1.43[23]
13	3	"Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers"	October 3, 2022 (2022-10-03)	Jalen Hurts, Stephen Curry, and Jon Hamm	1.63[24]
14	4	"Chicago Bears at New England Patriots"	October 24, 2022 (2022-10-24)	Barack Obama, Bill Burr, and Vince Vaughn	1.48[25]
15	5	"Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns"	October 31, 2022 (2022-10-31)	Boomer Esiason, Travis Kelce, Jason Kelce, and Brad Paisley	1.29[26]
16	6	"Baltimore Ravens at New Orleans Saints"	November 7, 2022 (2022-11-07)	Luke Bryan, Kirk Cousins, and Sean Payton	1.18[27]
17	7	"New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers"	December 5, 2022 (2022-12-05)	Robin Roberts, Randy Moss, and Dana White	1.14[28]
18	8	"New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals"	December 12, 2022 (2022-12-12)	Joe Burrow, Bill Simmons, Keegan-Michael Key, and Adam Vinatieri	1.13[29]
19	9	"Los Angeles Rams at Green Bay Packers"	December 19, 2022 (2022-12-19)	George Kittle, DeMarcus Ware, Ray Lewis, and Lil Wayne	1.29[30]
20	10	"Wild Card: Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers"	January 16, 2023 (2023-01-16)	Deion Sanders, Dan Campbell, and Tedy Bruschi	1.68[31]

Season 3 (2023–24)

No. overall	No. in season	Matchup	Original release date	Guest(s)	Viewers (millions)
21	1	"Buffalo Bills at New York Jets"[32]	September 11, 2023 (2023-09-11)	John McEnroe and Ryan Fitzpatrick	1.52[33]
22	2	"Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants"	October 2, 2023 (2023-10-02)	Will Ferrell and Shaun O'Hara[34]	1.30[35]
23	3	"Green Bay Packers at Las Vegas Raiders"	October 9, 2023 (2023-10-09)	Desmond Howard and Jimmy Kimmel	1.04[36]
24	4	"San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings"	October 23, 2023 (2023-10-23)	Aaron Rodgers, Klay Thompson, and Tiffany Haddish	1.07[37]
25	5	"Los Angeles Chargers at New York Jets"	November 6, 2023 (2023-11-06)	Arnold Schwarzenegger, Trevor Lawrence, and Keyshawn Johnson	1.03[38]
26	6	"Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills"	November 13, 2023 (2023-11-13)	Patrick Mahomes, Lindsey Vonn, and Kyle Brandt	1.12[39]
27	7	"Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs"	November 20, 2023 (2023-11-20)	Mark Wahlberg, Caitlin Clark, and Michael Vick	1.92[40]
28	8	"Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars"	December 4, 2023 (2023-12-04)	Tua Tagovailoa, Kay Adams, and Chad Ochocinco	.964[41]
29	9	"Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers at New York Giants"	December 11, 2023 (2023-12-11)	Nate Bargatze, Will Compton, Taylor Lewan, and Kirk Cousins	.940[42]
30	10	"Philadelphia Eagles at Seattle Seahawks"	December 18, 2023 (2023-12-18)	Christian McCaffrey, Case Keenum, and Mina Kimes	1.15[43]
31	11	"Wild Card: Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers"	January 15, 2024 (2024-01-15)	Bruce Arians and Ray Lewis	1.03[44]

Season 4 (2024–25)

• All episodes in this season begin with Bill Belichick as a Guest for the first half of each game.

No. overall	No. in season	Matchup	Original release date	Guest(s)	Viewers (millions)
32	1	"New York Jets at San Francisco 49ers"	September 9, 2024 (2024-09-09)	Bill Belichick, Adam Sandler, and Chris Jones	.872[45]
33	2	"Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles"	September 16, 2024 (2024-09-16)	Bill Belichick, Miles Teller, and Matt Ryan	1.34[46]
34	3	"New Orleans Saints at Kansas City Chiefs"	October 7, 2024 (2024-10-07)	Bill Belichick, Paul Rudd, and Archie Manning	TBD
35	4	"Buffalo Bills at New York Jets"	October 14, 2024 (2024-10-14)	Bill Belichick, Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Rex Ryan	TBD
36	5	"Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Chargers at Arizona Cardinals"	October 21, 2024 (2024-10-21)	Bill Belichick, Joe Flacco, Ed Reed, and Scott Hanson	TBD
37	6	"New York Giants at Pittsburgh Steelers"	October 28, 2024 (2024-10-28)	Bill Belichick, Lawrence Taylor, LL Cool J, and Bill Cowher	TBD
38	7	"Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Kansas City Chiefs"	November 4, 2024 (2024-11-04)	Bill Belichick, Jason Sudeikis, and Maria Taylor	TBD
39	8	"Houston Texans at Dallas Cowboys"	November 18, 2024 (2024-11-18)	Bill Belichick, Jim Gaffigan, and JJ Watt	TBD
40	9	"Baltimore Ravens at Los Angeles Chargers"	November 25, 2024 (2024-11-25)	Bill Belichick, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and Mike Vrabel	TBD
41	10	"Cincinnati Bengals at Dallas Cowboys"	December 9, 2024 (2024-12-09)	Bill Belichick, John Legend, and Cris Collinsworth	TBD
42	11	"Wild Card: Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams"	January 13, 2025 (2025-01-13)	Bill Belichick and Jared Allen	N/A

Curse

During the 2021 season, a "curse" akin to the Madden curse began to develop upon players who made guest appearances on the broadcasts, with an observed pattern of players' teams losing the next week despite being favored to win, with the sole exception being Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.^[47]

The "curse" was broken in 2022, as all players that appeared on the Manningcast that season all won their next game. However, in 2023, the "curse" returned as all NFL players who appeared as guests, plus Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson, saw their teams lose the next game. Another basketball player, Caitlin Clark, was not affected by the "curse"; her Iowa team was in the beginning of a 15-game winning streak at the time, with 14 of those wins coming after her appearance.

Adoption by other ESPN properties

Building upon the success of the Mannings' broadcasts, ESPN has since produced similar broadcasts for some of its other sports properties, some of which not involving the Mannings, but were still called Manningcasts:^[5][48] Some of these

• During the 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four, ESPN2 aired an alternate broadcast known as The Bird & Taurasi Show, featuring basketball players Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.^[49][50] ESPN has since employed the format for subsequent NCAA women's tournaments,^[51] and for an NBA Christmas game in 2023.^[52]
• The "KayRod Cast" aired for select Sunday Night Baseball games during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez.^[48] These alternate broadcasts ended when Rodriguez signed an exclusive contract with Fox Sports.
• Joe Buck and Michael Collins hosted a similar broadcast during each round of the 2022 PGA Championship, serving as the opening hour of coverage on ESPN before moving to ESPN2 (first and second rounds) or ESPN+ (third and final rounds) afterward. Joe Buck's long-time NFL commentary partner Troy Aikman, Charles Barkley, and the Mannings made guest appearances. The broadcasts marked Buck and Aikman's on-air debuts at ESPN, after moving from Fox Sports to serve as the new lead commentators for Monday Night Football (from 2015 to mid-2020, Buck served as the lead commentator for Fox's broadcasts of USGA tournaments). It was the first iteration of the format outside of Monday Night Football that was produced by Omaha.^[53][54] Matt Barrie replaced Buck for the 2023 PGA Championship edition. A similar alternate broadcast was produced by Omaha for the 2024 PGA Championship hosted by the hosts of the No Laying Up podcast.
• In August 2022, it was announced that the Mannings would produce alternate broadcasts for six college football games on ESPN2, with Pat McAfee as host.^[55]
• ESPN's NBA broadcasts began producing an alternate presentation of select NBA games called "NBA in Stephen A's World" starting with the 2022–23 season, with Stephen A. Smith as host.^[56] Similarly, comedian Kevin Hart and comedy group, the Plastic Cup Boyz, hosted an alternate broadcast produced by Omaha called "NBA Unplugged".
• In June 2023, ESPN announced Omaha Productions will produce an alternate presentation of the three remaining 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship races airing in North America—Montreal, Austin, and Las Vegas—with Daniel Ricciardo and Will Arnett presenting.^[57] However, due to Ricciardo replacing Scuderia Alphatauri driver Nyck de Vries following the British Grand Prix, those broadcasts never came to fruition.

Reception

The format, as well as the brothers' chemistry, have received critical acclaim.^[58]

The Peyton & Eli broadcasts were parodied in the cold opening of Saturday Night Live's 48th season premiere on October 1, 2022, which portrayed the Mannings (played by host Miles Teller and Andrew Dismukes, respectively) commentating over a sketch themed around the FBI search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, with self-deprecating remarks acknowledging the major changes in cast which took effect that season.^[59][60]

Accolades

Award	Year	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Sports Emmy Awards	2022	Outstanding Live Sports Series	Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli	Won	[61][62]
		Outstanding Sports Personality/Sports Event Analyst	Peyton Manning	Nominated
		Outstanding Sports Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent	Eli Manning	Nominated
		Outstanding Technical Team Studio	Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli	Nominated
	2023	Outstanding Sports Personality/Sports Event Analyst	Peyton Manning	Won	[63][64]
		Outstanding Sports Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent	Eli Manning	Nominated
	2024	Outstanding Live Sports Series	Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli	Won	[65][66]
		The George Wensel Technical Achievement Award		Nominated