TruBlueCowboy
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Instead of trying to find the dream team that will replace Meredith, Cosell and Gifford, how about just admitting that it won't happen, and having new hosts every week for Monday Night Football? They could be interesting ones too, not just career football broadcasters. You could throw in your Dennis Miller or Rush Limbaugh types from time to time.
Maybe during a Cowboys vs. Commanders MNF game, they could have two broadcasts, one on ABC with the Cowboys homers (Michael Irvin, Darren Woodson, Pat Summerall) and one on ESPN with the Commanders homers (Joe Thiesman, Jon Riggins, etc.). I know the contract probably doesn't allow them to broadcast over two stations owned by the company but the NFL could change some rules if they felt it would increase ratings and revenue. (Edit - Or as Sportsbabe pointed out below, have a broadcast team with a one homer for each team and a neutral man in the middle.)
They could have a reunion with Don Meredith and Frank Gifford. A Dan Dierdorf/Al Michaels reunion, a Pat Summerall/John Madden reunion. A Mike Ditka/Jim McMahon/whoever reunion. From time to time, throw in comedians who were football players or big fans, like Kevin James from King of Queens. The possibilities are endless. I think the only problem would be trying to get guys like Aikman who have already signed their souls away to another network and may not be legally (or have enough time) able to work MNF, but I think it would be affordable for the network to do this because a lot of people probably look at it as an honor to host Monday Night Football, although that glory is fading fast.
If the MNF crew did something like this, ratings would skyrocket sometimes just because people wanted to catch the new broadcast team. If a certain broadcast team brings in nice ratings, bring them back! The Tonight Show under Johnny Carson did this all the time and launched careers for Jay Leno, David Letterman, Joan Rivers and others.
You could combine this with other ideas such as not picking the games until a month or so before the matchup. There's too much parity in this league and too many bad games on MNF when they try and predict the dominant teams early in the season. So do ya think it would work?
Maybe during a Cowboys vs. Commanders MNF game, they could have two broadcasts, one on ABC with the Cowboys homers (Michael Irvin, Darren Woodson, Pat Summerall) and one on ESPN with the Commanders homers (Joe Thiesman, Jon Riggins, etc.). I know the contract probably doesn't allow them to broadcast over two stations owned by the company but the NFL could change some rules if they felt it would increase ratings and revenue. (Edit - Or as Sportsbabe pointed out below, have a broadcast team with a one homer for each team and a neutral man in the middle.)
They could have a reunion with Don Meredith and Frank Gifford. A Dan Dierdorf/Al Michaels reunion, a Pat Summerall/John Madden reunion. A Mike Ditka/Jim McMahon/whoever reunion. From time to time, throw in comedians who were football players or big fans, like Kevin James from King of Queens. The possibilities are endless. I think the only problem would be trying to get guys like Aikman who have already signed their souls away to another network and may not be legally (or have enough time) able to work MNF, but I think it would be affordable for the network to do this because a lot of people probably look at it as an honor to host Monday Night Football, although that glory is fading fast.
If the MNF crew did something like this, ratings would skyrocket sometimes just because people wanted to catch the new broadcast team. If a certain broadcast team brings in nice ratings, bring them back! The Tonight Show under Johnny Carson did this all the time and launched careers for Jay Leno, David Letterman, Joan Rivers and others.
You could combine this with other ideas such as not picking the games until a month or so before the matchup. There's too much parity in this league and too many bad games on MNF when they try and predict the dominant teams early in the season. So do ya think it would work?