The first NFL game at Allegiant Stadium, unsurprisingly, scored massive television ratings for ESPN.
The Week 2 Monday Night Football showdown between the Las Vegas Raiders and the New Orleans Saints averaged 15.590 million viewers, according to press release from ESPN.
This was the best Monday Night Football viewership since last year's Week 10 contest between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, where Russell Wilson led his team to a thrilling 27-24 overtime victory.
Las Vegas had a 22.1 local rating in Monday's game. The game also drew excellent viewership numbers in California. San Francisco drew a 16.2 local rating, followed by San Diego (15.6) and Sacramento (14.6).
Thanks to an excellent performance by quarterback Derek Carr (28 completions for 282 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions) and tight end Darren Waller (12 receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown), the Raiders upset the Saints 34-24.
The visitors led 10-0 after the first quarter, but they had no answer for the revamped Las Vegas offense in the next three quarters. The Raiders were also aided by 10 New Orleans penalties for a total of 129 yards.
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With the victory, the Raiders moved to 2-0, while Drew Brees and the Saints fell to 1-1. Las Vegas will now fly east as they prepare for a road tilt against the New England Patriots, while the Saints are gearing up for a pivotal Sunday Night Football home contest against the Green Bay Packers.
Next week's Monday Night Football contest between the Kansas City Chiefs (the defending Super Bowl champions) an the Baltimore Ravens could very well set record viewership numbers at ESPN. It features the game's last two MVP winners, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.
Mahomes and the Chiefs defeated Jackson and the Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium in 2018 and 2019 regular season tilts. We'll find out soon enough if the reigning MVP can get his first victory against the NFL's best player.