ESPN and the NFL have announced an eight-year rights extension that will keep Monday Night Football on the network through 2021.
The agreement begins in 2014, when their current deal expires, and includes 17 Monday Night Football games per season. ESPN has broadcast Monday Night Football since 2006.
"Today, we've secured cable's most valuable television franchise, along with an enhanced international package of year-round multimedia rights," said ESPN/ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer. "It will help grow our business well into the next decade."
The extension also includes more broadband rights for ESPN.com and ESPN mobile platforms, increased international rights and the option to carry a wild-card playoff game on ESPN, should the NFL decide to do so.
An additional 500 hours of new NFL-braded studio programming will begin immediately. They include an extra hour of Sunday NFL Countdown, an hour-long expansion of NFL Live, and a new daily show -- NFL 32 -- that debuts September 13.
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