<P> Monday Night Football first aired on ABC on September 21 , 1970 , with a game between the New York Jets and the Browns in Cleveland . Advertisers were charged US $65,000 per minute by ABC during the clash , a cost that proved to be a bargain when the contest collected 33 % of the viewing audience . The Browns defeated the Jets , 31 - 21 in a game which featured a 94 - yard kickoff return for a touchdown by the Browns ' Homer Jones and was punctuated when Billy Andrews intercepted Joe Namath late in the fourth quarter and returned it 25 yards for the clinching touchdown . However , Cleveland viewers saw different programming on WEWS - TV , because of the NFL 's blackout rules of the time ( this would apply for all games through the end of the 1972 season ; beginning in 1973 , home games could be televised if tickets were sold out 72 hours before kickoff ) . </P>
<P> Monday Night Football first aired on ABC on September 21 , 1970 , with a game between the New York Jets and the Browns in Cleveland . Advertisers were charged US $65,000 per minute by ABC during the clash , a cost that proved to be a bargain when the contest collected 33 % of the viewing audience . The Browns defeated the Jets , 31 - 21 in a game which featured a 94 - yard kickoff return for a touchdown by the Browns ' Homer Jones and was punctuated when Billy Andrews intercepted Joe Namath late in the fourth quarter and returned it 25 yards for the clinching touchdown . However , Cleveland viewers saw different programming on WEWS - TV , because of the NFL 's blackout rules of the time ( this would apply for all games through the end of the 1972 season ; beginning in 1973 , home games could be televised if tickets were sold out 72 hours before kickoff ) . </P>
who defeated the new york jets on the first televised monday night football game
who defeated the new york jets on the first televised monday night football game
the Browns
the Browns