Chargers-Cardinals drew audience of 1.8 million

The staggered doubleheader featuring one game on broadcast and cable and the other on the ESPN+ service resulted in, not surprisingly, less than stellar audience numbers for the game that was streamed, between the Chargers and the Cardinals.

ESPN didn’t mention the audience numbers in the press release for the Week 7 Monday night games, and for good reason. Per a source with knowledge of the data, the game attracted an audience of 1.8 million.

And that includes those who watched via over-the-air channels in the local markets of Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Nowadays, 1.8 million isn’t a bad number for a sporting event. It’s an awful number for an NFL game. And that’s why ESPN didn’t mention the audience numbers for Chargers-Cardinals.

Hopefully, the number was low enough to get ESPN to not do another staggered doubleheader with one of the games on ESPN+. And if they want to get rid of staggered Monday night doubleheaders altogether, I won’t complain.