ESPN Forces Joe Buck To Tell Monday Night Football Viewers To Change Channel, Troy Aikman Implores Them To 'Stay'

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ESPN carries Monday Night Football thanks to a long-term and extremely expensive deal with the NFL. They also paid A LOT of money to lure both Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to the network to call those games.

ESPN airs Monday Night Football on, well, ESPN but also on ABC and ESPN 2. They are all-in on their most-expensive property. On both ESPN and ABC, the Buck and Aikman version is simulcast across the two networks.

But on ESPN 2 -- during select games throughout the season -- there's something called the "ManningCast." Peyton and Eli Manning "call" the game from their own homes and invite guests onto the show to talk throughout the contest.

It's a very different way for viewers to watch the game, but offers options for those who might want something different than the traditional presentation.

However, that dynamic creates a bit of an awkward competition between the two broadcasts. That was on full display during the Week 4 Monday Night Football game between the Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants.

ESPN Monday Night Football announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

ESPN Monday Night Football announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. (Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

Buck tells viewers that actor Will Ferrell is currently a guest on the "ManningCast" version of the show on ESPN 2. Essentially, producers told him to promote viewers changing the channel to another broadcast.

To his credit, Buck read the promo and slipped in a classic Will Ferrell line, saying "Stay classy, Troy." That, of course, is from Ferrell's movie, Anchorman. Not the "Troy" part, but you get it.

But Aikman apparently doesn't like the idea of telling people watching his broadcast to go somewhere else. Aikman responded to Buck, saying "Well, stay here folks! Stay classy and stay here!"

He then follows up with, "I like Will Ferrell ... but sit tight" as Buck snickers in the background.

It is strange that ESPN pays Buck and Aikman over $30 million per season (combined) only to have them promote another version of their game. It's also strange, in general, to have a broadcaster tell the audience to literally change the channel.

It is what it is, though, for ESPN. They don't really care which channel viewers watch, as long as they're tuned in for Monday Night Football.

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman -- or at least Aikman for sure -- do care, though.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to Outkick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named “Brady” because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.