2009 Monday Night Football Chalk Talk Series

Hall of Famer Frank Gifford and Members of Patriots’ 50th Anniversary Team
To Kick Off Chalk Talk Series September 14 When MNF Opens Its 40th Season

The Monday Night Football Chalk Talk Series is returning for the third year with nine planned events during the 2009 NFL season. Part of ESPN’s plans to celebrate the 40th season of Monday Night Football, the series kicks off Monday, September 14 at The Hall at Patriot Place in Foxboro, Mass., with an event before the Buffalo Bills-New England Patriots MNF season-opener.

The MNF Chalk Talk Series renews a tradition that originally began in the 1970s with local luncheon events in the early years of sports television’s signature series.  On-air personalities in town to cover the game shared their insider perspectives with invited guests from the local community.  ESPN and the NFL launched the Chalk Talk Series in 2007 to showcase the teams and host cities participating in the weekly MNF primetime games.

This fall, ESPN commentators will participate in the luncheons, along with prominent alumni players from the competing MNF teams, who will take part in panel discussions and question-and-answer sessions. Reporters Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya will serve as emcees throughout the season, and they will be joined by a rotation of ESPN NFL experts, including MNF commentators Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski; studio commentators Stuart Scott, Matt Millen, Steve Young and Darren Woodson; and reporters Wendy Nix and Ed Werder.

The Chalk Talk Series kickoff event on Sept. 14 will feature a star lineup with MNF broadcasting legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford and members of the Patriots’ 50th anniversary team, including Nick Buoniconti, John Hannah, Mike Haynes and Andre Tippett, all scheduled to be part of the planned program.  NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Patriots’ Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft, and ESPN President George Bodenheimer are all scheduled to be in attendance. Tirico will host and be joined by Scott and Nix, ESPN’s Boston-based correspondent.

“During Monday Night Football’s 40th season, we will work closely with the NFL, participating teams and our sponsors to build on the overwhelming success of the Chalk Talk Series the past two seasons with nine events this fall, previewing the weekly matchups and highlighting the successes of local organizations in the communities we visit,” said John Wildhack, executive vice president, programming acquisitions & strategy, ESPN.

National sponsor Dick’s Sporting Goods will continue its involvement in the program for the third year, along with new luncheon sponsors Avon, Autotrader.com, Gillette and Miller Brewing.  

Following the opening event in Foxboro, the series will continue at Gilley’s in Dallas before the Panthers-Cowboys game (Sept. 28); at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis (Oct. 5) and at Land Shark Stadium in South Florida as part of the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration festivities surrounding the Jets-Dolphins game (Oct. 12).

Invitations to each MNF Chalk Talk Series event will expand from 150 guests in previous years to 300 in 2009, including local civic and business leaders, sponsors and fans.  Events are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. on MNF game days.

Chalk Talk Series events will also include a community relations element with recognition ceremonies honoring local non-profit, youth service organizations that have made a positive impact in their communities.  Team ESPN, the corporate outreach program of ESPN, will join the NFL in recognizing these organizations at each MNF luncheon with the “Fans Helping Fans” community service award. 

ESPN’s Monday Night Football

ESPN’s Monday Night Football is the most-watched series in cable television history and the only NFL series nominated for a Sports Emmy in the Outstanding Live Sports Series category the past three years (2006-08).  In three seasons on ESPN, Monday Night Football has registered seven of the top 10 all-time biggest household audiences in cable history, led by the Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys telecast (9/15/08), which attracted cable’s largest household audience ever (an average of 12,953,000 million homes and 18,608,000 P2+).  For the 2008 season, MNF averaged an 8.9 rating and 8,679,000 homes (11,962,000 P2+); the accompanying MNF “game around the game” content on ESPN.com sparked an increase of Monday traffic to the site of 51% over the previous season with an average 68.1 million page views per week.

2009 Monday Night Football Chalk Talk Series:

Date                    Host City                        MNF game                Luncheon Site                    

Sept. 14             Foxboro, Mass.             Bills vs. Patriots            The Hall at Patriot Place

Sept. 28             Dallas                           Panthers vs. Cowboys  Gilley’s Dallas

Oct. 5                Minneapolis                  Packers vs. Vikings        Guthrie Theatre

Oct. 12              Miami                            Jets vs. Dolphins            Land Shark Stadium

Oct. 26              Washington D.C.          Eagles vs. Redskins       Sequoia's

Nov. 9                Denver                          Steelers vs. Broncos      Mile High Station

Nov. 23              Houston                        Titans vs. Texans            House of Blues

Dec. 7               Green Bay                     Ravens vs. Packers       Lambeau Field

Dec. 14             San Francisco              Cardinals vs. 49ers         Palace of Fine Arts

For downloadable images from past seasons’ MNF Chalk Talk Series, click here.  

-30-