Don’t sweat it if you’re a Bears fan who wants to watch Monday Night Football, but don’t have access to cable television, WGN-9 is airing tonight’s game against the Patriots.
As was the case when the Bears were on Thursday Night Football, primetime games on cable/streaming are always carried on over-the-air channels in the local markets of each participating team. We’ve seen WFLD-TV, WCIU, and WGN (among others) show Bears games in previous years. And tonight, WGN — which has brought you some great moments in Cubs, Bulls, White Sox, and Blackhawks history — presents Justin Fields vs. Bailey Zappe Mac Jones in primetime!
Back in 2021, ESPN agreed to a five-year rights deal with the NFL to carry MNF. And back in March, the network brought on Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to be the voice of the prime-time game. And are paying handsomely to do so, with the New York Post reporting the booth’s cost at $165 million. WGN will be simulcasting the Buck and Aikman call of the football happenings in Foxboro tonight. My apologies if you were holding out hope the network would simulcast ESPN2’s ManningCast.
The Bears are 32-42 all-time on Monday Night Football, which is a troubling factoid I unearthed today after remembering how the Bears went 0-2 on MNF last year. But what better time to move closer to the .500 mark than tonight? I couldn’t think of a better place to do so than the network Steve Goodman sang so eloquently about so long ago.