Monday Night Football has not been carried on YouTube TV since the 2021 season, and it remains absent as of 2025. The primary reason is that ESPN’s rights and contractual terms for MNF do not include YouTube TV among the distribution platforms authorized to carry the live game feeds. YouTube TV carries ABC and other ESPN content, but specific sports rights, regional restrictions, and multiplatform deals can limit which live events appear in the lineup.
Rights and Carriage: Why MNF Is Absent on YouTube TV
ESPN holds the exclusive broadcast rights to Monday Night Football through the 2027 season under current agreements. However, those rights define which platforms may offer the games. YouTube TV does not have the MNF license, so the game streams are not available even when other ESPN channels and platforms do carry them.
Platform Availability Comparison
| Platform | Monday Night Football Carried | Source Type |
|---|---|---|
| ESPN (TV channel) | Yes | Network Rights |
| ESPN+ (streaming) | Yes | Digital Rights |
| ABC (over-the-air) | Yes | Network Rights |
| YouTube TV | No (as of 2021–2025) | Service Lineup |
| FuboTV | Yes | Service Lineup |
| NFL+ Premium | Yes (in-market simulcast) | NFL+ Terms |
Carriage Rules and Regional Blackouts
Even when a service lists ABC, regional sports policies and blackouts can affect whether specific games appear. MNF games are subject to local blackout rules in some markets, and YouTube TV adheres to those rules when they intersect with its channel availability. This means that in certain regions, the game may be blacked out on all platforms, while in others it may be available on an alternative service but not on YouTube TV due to the missing license.
Contractual Multiplatform and Exceptional Cases
Carriage of sports content often involves multiplatform agreements where rights are divided among providers. In rare situations, short-term changes or limited-time trials may add MNF to a service lineup, but these have not occurred recently on YouTube TV. For ongoing MFN carriage, providers must secure explicit rights in the ESPN–YouTube TV negotiation, and those talks would be reflected in official service announcements.
How to Watch Monday Night Football
If YouTube TV does not meet your need to watch MNF, several dependable alternatives exist that do carry the game.
- Watch on ABC with a TV provider login through the ABC app or website using your YouTube TV–compatible television provider credentials where supported.
- Stream on ESPN+ with an active subscription, which typically includes MNF as part of the base package.
- Use a different live TV service that holds ESPN/ABC rights, such as FuboTV, YouTube TV’s add-on Cloud DVR with an applicable tuner, DirecTV Stream, or Hulu + Live TV, depending on your market.
- In-market NFL+ Premium subscribers may access the local feed via the NFL app when the game is not locally blacked out.
What Could Change the YouTube TV Status
Should YouTube TV and ESPN reach a new agreement to carry Monday Night Football, the service would announce it publicly and add the game to the lineup in affected markets. Until then, the absence is a result of rights and contractual scope, not a temporary omission. Users can monitor official service updates from YouTube TV and ESPN for any future changes.
Key Takeaways
- Monday Night Football is not on YouTube TV because the service lacks the streaming rights for this specific ESPN program.
- Rights are governed by contract; YouTube TV offers many ESPN programs but not MNF as of 2025.
- Regional blackouts and platform-specific limitations can further restrict access on services that do not have the license.
- Viewers can watch MNF on ABC via an authenticated TV provider, on ESPN+, or on other live TV services that include the ESPN channels.