Jason Kelce’s second career is off to a flying start. ESPN has announced that Monday Night Countdown, the show Kelce joined after retiring from the NFL, has posted its best viewership start in a decade, averaging 1.6 million viewers per show. In the same week, Kelce and his brother Travis used their New Heights podcast to tear into the NFL over a controversial penalty on New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo.
It is a good snapshot of where Kelce stands in late 2026: a trusted voice on ESPN’s biggest football nights, and still one of the bluntest critics of the league he played in for 13 years.
ESPN’s best start in a decade
ESPN announced the numbers this week, and they are strong. Monday Night Countdown is averaging 1.6 million viewers per show, the network’s best start for the programme in ten years, according to a report on ESPN’s best viewership start in a decade.
Kelce shared the news himself on X, writing: “We have a ton of people that put a lot of work into making this show. Always good to see hard work pay off. Let’s keep it rolling.” He tagged host Scott Van Pelt and fellow analysts Pat McAfee, Marcus Spears and Jason McCourty, the team around him on the show.
The show is getting a big lift from what comes before it. Monday Night Football is having its best start of the ESPN era, up 26 percent on last year to an average of 19 million viewers. The Week 1 opener between the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs drew a record-breaking 23.2 million viewers.
That lead-in matters. Countdown airs right before the game, so a record audience for the football is feeding straight into Kelce’s show. But the numbers also say viewers are staying for the studio team, not just tuning in early for kickoff.
Who is on the show with Kelce
Monday Night Countdown is hosted by Scott Van Pelt, with Kelce, Marcus Spears, Jason McCourty and Pat McAfee as analysts. Kelce joined ESPN in May 2024 on a multi-year deal, two months after announcing his retirement from playing in March 2024.
His route to the studio was far from obvious. In the 2011 NFL draft, 190 players heard their names called before the Philadelphia Eagles took a centre out of the University of Cincinnati in the sixth round. Kelce went on to spend his whole 13-year playing career with the Eagles, winning Super Bowl LII and becoming one of the most popular players in the league.
ESPN has bigger plans for the team. Under the league’s current television deal, Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027 will be the first Super Bowl ESPN has ever broadcast. Super Bowl LIX drew 127.7 million viewers, so the network will be hoping Kelce and his colleagues can help it push past that mark.
The New Heights rant over the Skattebo penalty
If the ESPN news was the good part of Kelce’s week, the New Heights podcast gave him a chance to let off steam. On the latest episode, Jason and Travis Kelce both criticised the unnecessary roughness penalty called on Cam Skattebo during the Giants’ 27-21 overtime win over the Houston Texans.
The play came in the first quarter. Skattebo picked up seven yards before officials flagged him for lowering his helmet into safety M.J. Stewart. The 15-yard penalty wiped out the gain and stood out because it is rare for the rule to be enforced against a ball carrier on a normal running play.
Jason did not hold back. He said he understood why officials called it, but called it the dumbest thing in the world and said a runner should be allowed to lower his shoulder and gain yardage however he wants. Travis agreed, calling it “football” and asking how a runner is supposed to lower his pads while keeping his head up.
The call was hard on Skattebo in more ways than one. He had just produced the best game of his career, with a career-high 124 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, including a 42-yard run in overtime that set up Devin Singletary’s game-winner. He had also been fined $7,073 earlier in the season for a similar play against the Tennessee Titans, and told reporters after the game that if the flags and fines kept coming, he would “play for free”.
Giants head coach John Harbaugh defended his running back too, saying players are taught to run low to protect the ball and their bodies. “You can’t move your head off your shoulders. It’s a physical impossibility,” he said. A report on Skattebo’s defiant message to the NFL has more on his reaction and the fine he now expects.
Injuries have played a big part in the NFC East picture this season, and our Jayden Daniels injury update has the details on Washington’s quarterback and how long he was out.
From the parade bus to the studio
Kelce’s move into television has worked because viewers already knew him as more than a football player. His famous speech at the Eagles’ Super Bowl parade in 2018, delivered in a Mummers costume, turned him into a Philadelphia folk hero. The New Heights podcast he records with Travis then made him one of the most listened-to voices in American sport.
That same plain-spoken style is what comes across on Monday Night Countdown. Kelce talks about the game the way a former player does, without hiding behind broadcaster language. It is also why his criticism of the Skattebo penalty landed so hard: it came from someone who spent 13 years in the trenches and knows exactly what a running back is being asked to do.
What to watch next
Monday Night Countdown continues through the rest of the season, and the numbers will be watched closely. If the show keeps its audience, Kelce will head into ESPN’s first Super Bowl in February 2027 as one of the network’s biggest names.
New Heights will keep going too, and the Skattebo penalty is unlikely to be the last time the Kelce brothers take on the league’s rules. For now, though, the story of Kelce’s week is a simple one: record ratings on television, and a rant on the podcast that plenty of football fans agreed with.
If you want more NFL reading, our Caleb Williams stats breakdown covers the Chicago quarterback’s season so far.
FAQ
What is Jason Kelce’s ESPN show?
Jason Kelce is an analyst on Monday Night Countdown, ESPN’s pre-game show before Monday Night Football. He joined ESPN in May 2024 after retiring from the NFL in March 2024.
How many viewers does Monday Night Countdown get?
ESPN says the show is averaging 1.6 million viewers per episode in 2026, its best start in a decade. Monday Night Football itself is averaging 19 million viewers, up 26 percent on last year.
What did Jason Kelce say about the Cam Skattebo penalty?
On the New Heights podcast, Kelce called the unnecessary roughness penalty on Giants running back Cam Skattebo the dumbest thing in the world, and said a runner should be allowed to lower his shoulder. His brother Travis agreed, and Skattebo himself said he would “play for free” if the flags and fines kept coming.
