ESPN averaged more than 12 million viewers per week with their coverage of Monday Night Football and they're expecting an alternate broadcast with Peyton Manning and Eli Manning to increase the audience by three to five percent.

While some believe the alternate broadcast will simply cannibalize existing viewers away from the main broadcast, the hope is that it adds new viewers. 

“Why are you having A-level producers and A-level announcers and then you’re telling people to watch something else?” one executive told The Ringer.

“At the end of the day, we’re not competing with ourselves,” said Freddy Rolón, ESPN’s vice president of programming and acquisitions. “We win no matter which one they tune in to.” ESPN thinks of the Mannings less as a play for a specific demographic, like the Nickelodeon NFL broadcast, than a large net cast for casual fans.

“For sure, we’re doing it with the expectation that it’s going to bring a lift to the audience,” said Rolón.