ESPN Sunday Night Football
| ESPN Sunday Night Football | |
|---|---|
| Also known as |
ESPN Sunday Night NFL (1987-97) |
| Starring |
Mike Patrick Joe Theismann Paul Maguire Suzy Kolber see below |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 180 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | ESPN |
| Original release | November 8, 1987 – January 1, 2006 |
ESPN Sunday Night Football was the ESPN cable network's weekly television broadcasts of Sunday evening National Football League (NFL) games. The first ESPN Sunday night broadcast occurred on November 8, 1987, while the last one aired on January 1, 2006.
Former NFL Commissioner (1989–2005) Paul Tagliabue credits ESPN with raising the "profile" of the league, by turning "a potential six- or seven-hour television experience into a twelve-hour television experience," factoring in both Sunday Night Football and the network's pregame show Sunday NFL Countdown.
While ABC had been airing occasional Sunday night NFL games (usually one per season) under its Monday Night Football banner since 1978, the concept of playing a regular series of Sunday night professional football games on ESPN was originally a concept designed for the United States Football League. As part of the abortive 1986 USFL season, ESPN was to carry a weekly Sunday night game throughout the fall season.
As part of its new television package in 1987, the NFL granted ESPN the rights to air a series of Sunday night games, which were to air over the second half of the regular season. The NFL thus became the last major North American professional sports league to begin airing its games on cable television.
During the inaugural season of ESPN Sunday Night NFL (as the telecast was then branded) in 1987, the network's announcing booth consisted of Mike Patrick, Roy Firestone, and a weekly "guest color commentator." Joe Theismann took over as lead analyst beginning in 1988. Two years later, the NFL expanded its Sunday night offerings to the full season, with TNT airing games in the season's first half and ESPN taking over for the second half.
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