Published October 21, 2026 08:41 PM
Monday night’s game between the Commanders and 49ers started as a blowout. The road team eventually turned a 23-3 deficit into a 23-17 nail biter.
The end result, for ratings purposes, resulted in 17.9 million viewers to the various Disney-controlled networks: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, NFL Network, and ESPN Deportes.
The release from ESPN includes no information regarding the audience to the debut of the Pat McAfee alt cast or the Next Gen Stats broadcast on NFL Network. (Last week, ESPN disclosed that 1.1 million watched the ESPN2 ManningCast and the NFL Network Net Gen Stats presentation, without specifying the audience for either network.)
Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that the McAfee alt cast attracted a mere 351,000 viewers, which equates to 1.96 percent of the total audience. That’s far less than the ManningCast attracts, even as the Peyton and Eli show continues to slump.
Which brings us back to the overriding question about all alt casts: Why? With the exception of the broadcasts aimed at getting kids to watch by turning the game into a collection of cartoon or video-game characters, there’s no reason to siphon viewers from the primary broadcast.
The people who watch the alt casts meant for adults will watch the primary broadcast, in the absence of the alt cast. It’s ultimately a pointless exercise that only wastes time and money.