Manningcast

Manningcast
File:Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli titlecard.jpg
Genre	NFL game telecasts
Created by	Peyton Manning
Presented by	Peyton Manning Eli Manning
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	20
Production
Production location(s)	Virtual
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	3–4 hours
Production company(s)	National Football League ESPN Omaha Productions
Release
Original network	ESPN2 ESPN+
Picture format	HDTV 720p
Original release	September 13, 2021 (2021-09-13) – present (present)
Chronology
Related shows	Monday Night Countdown Monday Night Football
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

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. It is produced by Peyton's production company Omaha Productions. The broadcasts air on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

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.

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.

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. 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. The series received a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series at the 43rd Sports Emmy Awards on May 24, 2022.

Episodes

Series overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
	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)

Season 1 (2021–2022)

No. overall	No. in season	Matchup	Original air date	Guest(s)	Viewers (millions)
1	1	"Baltimore Ravens at Las Vegas Raiders"	September 13, 2021 (2021-09-13)	0.80
2	2	"Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers"	September 20, 2021 (2021-09-20)	1.86
3	3	"Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys"	September 27, 2021 (2021-09-27)	1.89
4	4	"New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks"	October 25, 2021 (2021-10-25)	1.61
5	5	"New York Giants at Kansas City Chiefs"	November 1, 2021 (2021-11-01)	1.96
6	6	"Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers"	November 15, 2021 (2021-11-15)	1.55
7	7	"New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers"	November 22, 2021 (2021-11-22)	1.58
8	8	"New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills"	December 6, 2021 (2021-12-06)	1.63
9	9	"Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers"	January 3, 2022 (2022-01-03)	1.48
10	10	"Wild Card: Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams"	January 17, 2022 (2022-01-17)	1.42

Season 2 (2022–2023)

No. overall	No. in season	Matchup	Original air date	Guest(s)	Viewers (millions)
11	1	"Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks"	September 12, 2022 (2022-09-12)	1.50
12	2	"Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants"	September 26, 2022 (2022-09-26)	1.43
13	3	"Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers"	October 3, 2022 (2022-10-03)	1.63
14	4	"Chicago Bears at New England Patriots"	October 24, 2022 (2022-10-24)	1.48
15	5	"Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns"	October 31, 2022 (2022-10-31)	1.29
16	6	"Baltimore Ravens at New Orleans Saints"	November 7, 2022 (2022-11-07)	1.18
17	7	"New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers"	December 5, 2022 (2022-12-05)	1.14
18	8	"New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals"	December 12, 2022 (2022-12-12)	1.13
19	9	"Los Angeles Rams at Green Bay Packers"	December 19, 2022 (2022-12-19)	1.29
20	10	"Wild Card: Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers"	January 16, 2023 (2023-01-16)	1.68

Curse

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 having a decline in performance the following week.

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:

• 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.
• The "KayRod Cast" airs for selected Sunday Night Baseball games during the 2022 season, with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez.
• 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.
• In August 2022, it was announced that that the Mannings would produce alternate broadcasts for six college football games on ESPN2, with Pat McAfee as host.
• 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.
• 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.

Reception

The format, as well as the brothers' chemistry, have received critical acclaim.

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.

Accolades

Award	Year	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Sports Emmy Awards	2022	Outstanding Live Sports Series	Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli	Won
		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