<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 in the first televised monday night football
who defeated the new york jets in the first televised monday night football
The Browns
The Browns