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Monday Night Football is back with a must-watch matchup! The Philadelphia Eagles face the Atlanta Falcons for MNF Week 2 on Monday (Sept. 16).

The Eagles are set to host the Falcons at at Lincoln Field in Philadelphia on Monday. The game will air on ESPN.

To celebrate Latino Heritage Month, the halftime show will feature Eagles legend Jason Avant and performers from Estilo Dance Studio and Art in Motion Dance Studio performing an array of salsa dances. The performance will feature dancers from Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Jomirys Lozano will perform the national anthem.

For the football fans who want to watch the Eagles and Falcons face off in person, there’s still time to score tickets at an affordable price. The cheapest tickets for the game are currently priced from around $141 and up at StubHub.

Read on for a schedule of upcoming games, plus ways to watch and stream live and on-demand (with and without cable).

How to Stream Monday Night Football on ABC

Good news for fans who don’t have cable: MNF has expanded into network TV! ABC will simulcast select games this season, as the network announced last September, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Tonight’s Falcons vs. Eagles game will air on ESPN, but other games will simulcast across ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+, including upcoming double headers such as the Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Buffalo Bills and Washington Commanders vs. Cincinnati Bengals game on airing on ABC and streaming ESPN+ on Sept. 23.

This season’s doubleheaders include games between the Tennessee Titans vs. Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks vs. Detroit Lions on Sept. 30. Tonight’s Eagles vs. Falcons game will be the second MNF game of the season. As with all MNF games, kickoff will start at 8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT on ESPN.

Retired Eagles player Jason Kelce will join Troy Aikman and Joe Buck the third quarter of tonight’s game. Kelce will also appear on MNF Countdown with Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears, and Scott Van Pelt airing at 6 p.m. ET on ABC.

How do you watch football games and other sports for free? Good news for DirecTV customers! A deal was reached between Disney and DirecTV over the weekend, officially restoring ABC and ESPN channels to subscribers. If you’re not already a customer, you can now join for free and enjoy Disney-owned networks including ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ACCN.

DirecTV offers a free trial at sign up and over 90 cable and local channels. Streaming plans start at $49.99/month (reg. $79.99/month) for a limited time.

Not interested in DirecTV Stream? For customers looking for streaming alternatives, Fubo, Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV are some of the streamers that provide instant access to ABC, ESPN and other channels.

There are also several other affordable ways to watch local channels like ABC, NBC and CBS. For example, you can buy an HDTV antenna like this one on sale at Amazon for $24 (free shipping for Prime members), and of course, football lovers can subscribe to streamers such as FuboTV and Sling TV.

For around $20-$75, you’ll get to stream live TV and on-demand content, including sports channels and DVR storage. And now that the football season has officially arrived, many of your favorite streamers are offering streaming deals for the NFL season and beyond.

For example, you’ll get a free trial with Fubo to watch your favorite football games for free for up to a week and a discount at sign up.

Looking for more streaming deals? Sling TV is half off for your first month. That means you can subscribe and stream all TV shows, movies, football games and other sports content starting at just $20 for the first month — but only for a limited time. One of Sling’s best streaming deals is the Orange & Blue packages and the Sports Extra bundle for $199 when you prepay four months in advance.

Looking for another affordable option? Subscribe to Fubo and save $30 off your first month.

Fubo’s streaming plans start at $49.99/month (reg. $79.99) after a week free. Fubo Pro, one of the cheapest among the aforementioned streaming plans, includes 202 channels, 1000 hours of Cloud DVR and streaming on up to 10 screens. Fubo Elite is currently discounted to $69.99/month (reg. $99.99/month) for 301 channels and Fubo Premier is $79.99/month (reg. 109.99/month) for 322 channels, 4K streaming, Showtime and more. For Spanish speakers, Fubo Latino is $19.99/month (reg. $32.99/month) to stream 61 channels.

Between free trials and discounted streaming plans, DirecTV has one of the best streaming deals for football fans but without ABC and ESPN, sports fans are looking for different ways to stream. Now that DirecTV and Disney reached a deal, sports lovers will be able to stream MNF again. Additionally, DirecTV Stream offers other channels that broadcast football including Fox, CBS and NBC.

Depending on which package you choose, DirecTV’s streaming plans lets you access specialty channels like Big Ten Network, ACC, SEC, MLB Network, CBS Sports Network, Starz, Encore, Max, Ion, NHL Network and more.

You can also watch NFL games on YouTube TV and NFL+, the latter starts at $6.99/month for the base subscription and $14.99/month for NLF+ Premium.

With NFL+, football fans can watch or listen to games live and on-demand, plus enjoy recaps and more.

How to Watch Monday Night Football Games on ESPN+

Gone are the days of simply switching channels to catch all of your favorite NFL games, and it can be hard to keep track of which games are streaming on which platforms. For example, Prime Video is the streaming home for Thursday Night Football, while Sunday football games are available on NBC, CBS, Paramount+ and Peacock, and some Monday Night Football games are scheduled to simulcast on ESPN+ and ABC.

With ESPN+, you’ll get access to football and more for $10.99 a month (or bundle with Disney+ and Hulu). Watch the NFL, college football, soccer, MLB, NBA, NHL, UFC, PGA Tour, Top Rank, PLL Playoffs, Premiere League, La Liga, cricket and other sporting events on ESPN+.

What else can you stream on ESPN+? Sports lovers can binge dozens of must-watch series and TV shows, and original content such as PPV fights, the entire 30 for 30 series and tons of other exclusives such as In the Arena: Serena Williams, The Captain, Tom Brady: Man in the Arena, Al Davis vs. The NFL, Vick, Be Like Water, Breakaway, More Than An Athlete with Michael Strahan, Eli’s Place, Abby’s Place, The Place’s Universe, Why Not Us: Grambling Dance and Our Time Baylor Basketball.

ESPN+ isn’t on sale right now, but you can subscribe to the annual plan ($109.99) to save your around $22 off the $10.99 monthly price. Also, Hulu offers a student discount for just $1.99/month and bundle deals allow you to save on streaming packages. For example, the Disney+ Trio Bundle includes Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ for $14.99/month.

Keep in mind, while there are different ways to watch football games from your TV, phone, laptop or computer, the price will vary depending on the platform. Fortunately, ESPN is available on several streamers including Fubo, Sling and Hulu + Live TV.

Hulu + Live TV gives you access to 90+ channels in edition to ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+, and DVR storage, for $76.99/month. And there’s a free trial for three days.

Monday Night Football: Games, Dates & Time

Monday Night Football kicked off on Sept. 9 and will continue into January 2025. Last week’s debut between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers averaged 20.5 million viewers, down from the previous year.

By comparison, Last year’s MNF kickoff games between the Jets and Buffalo Bills drew a record-breaking 22.6 million viewers, making it the most watched MNF game in history beating out the previous record-holder, a 2009’s game between the Packers and Vikings.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2023 win over the Chiefs (21-17) last November drew a record 29 million viewers in total, a 27-year ratings high and the highest numbers of the season for a single game since the Super Bowl.

Tonight’s game launches the MNF season of single games and doubleheaders. However, some doubleheaders, will broadcast around the same time. That means football fans will be flipping channels during MNF and if you don’t have cable, you can watch and record both games under the streaming plans with Fubo and other streaming plans mentioned above.

Want to watch MNF from anywhere? Even if you don’t have cable, there are plenty of ways to watch NFL games without spending your entire paycheck. To make the process a little easier, we put together some of the better options for MNF and other NFL games.

Beyond the game itself, NFL ratings have received a boost thanks in part to Taylor Swift who appeared at the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Baltimore Ravens season kickoff last week, and has shown up to a few other games to support for her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

NFL ratings hit another high mark last Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The Thanksgiving game between the Cowboys and Commanders snagged a whopping 44 million viewers, the third-largest audience for a regular season game in history. The game aired on CBS and stream on Paramount+.

The Cowboys beat the Commanders 45-10. The NFL team is no stranger to Thanksgiving games as the Cowboys have played a game on Thanksgiving day nearly every year since 1966.

Will the new season score big in ratings? We’ll have to wait and see, but fans who want to watch games live, either from home or on-the-go, can easily stream select NFL games and more on ESPN+.

MNF sound a bit different this season. That’s because ESPN enlisted the help of J Balvin to curate the music for select games. Chris Stapleton, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake curated the music for last year’s games, preceded by Marshmello in 2022, Drake in 2021, DJ Khaled in 2020 and Diplo in 2019.

To kick off the collaboration, the NFL debuted a remix of Balvin’s song “DOBLEXXO” featuring Feid from his new album Rayo.

“ESPN’s Music curation program with Monday Night Football continues with an artist that will amplify the bold and new music strategy,” said Curtis Friends, ESPN vice president of sports marketing. “J Balvin is a global icon whose influence hits with diverse cultures and genres. His music choices embrace the anticipation and excitement the ESPN football season offers, and we can’t wait for him to come along the season-long ride with us.”

With the season is just getting started, there are a ton of games left on the MNF schedule, and plenty of opportunities to watch them live. Click here to get tickets to see your favorite NFL games in person.

Want to stream MNF from outside of the U.S.? With ExpressVPN, NordVPN and PureVPN you can access several streaming platforms and channels.

See the full 2024 MNF schedule here.

Since Lollapalooza ushered in the era of the modern music festival in the early 1990s, one main power source has been driving them all: diesel generators. These mobile devices have been particularly crucial to the festival industry given that many of these events take place in open fields and parking lots that aren’t connected to the power grid.  

But generators are also environmentally problematic. At the biggest festivals, they can burn through thousands of gallons of diesel fuel over a weekend, spewing carbon emissions that altogether make them the second biggest carbon emitters in live music, after emissions created by fan travel. They’re also loud, and they kind of stink.   

“You can hear them from the stage, you can smell them from the stage,” says Adam Gardner of the band Guster, and who also co-founded the music sustainability nonprofit REVERB. “It’s just unpleasant.”   

But the live events industry, and the festival industry in particular, is amidst what seems to be a sea change in how events are powered. And increasingly, the more viable alternative to the diesel devilry is simple — batteries. 

Last month, the Lollapalooza 2024 mainstage was powered entirely by batteries, which kept the lights, sound and other power components on during performances by Chappell Roan, Megan Thee Stallion, SZA, The Killers and more. A rep for Lollapalooza tells Billboard that with this effort, the festival saw a 67% reduction in both fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions over prior years, when batteries had not been used. This equates to the sparing of 26 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, or the equivalent to five homes’ electricity use for a year. The use of batteries also saved over 3,000 gallons of fuel. Lollapalooza says this initiative made it the first major U.S. festival to power its mainstage on a hybrid battery system.   

“I’ve heard some rumors about competitors being maybe a little jealous that we were the first ones to do it,” says Jake Perry, the director of operations and sustainability at C3 Presents, which produces Lollapalooza.  

Lolla’s effort helped demonstrate that what may seem risky is actually a reliable alternative that’s evolving power options for live events. “There’s a lot of fear and apprehension over providing the power that’s turning the show on,” says Perry. “But there were, like, zero issues.”  

REVERB, a 501c3 nonprofit that’s focused on sustainability in music for 20 years and was co-founded by Gardner and his wife, environmentalist Lauren Sullivan, estimates that each year, U.S. festivals burn the equivalent of 46 million miles driven by gasoline powered vehicles. As battery technology evolves, they’re becoming a more viable solution to the issue, if organizers can be convinced that they’re reliable enough to use.  

“If there’s a choice between sustainability and reliability, everyone’s going to choose reliability,” says Greg Landa, CEO of CES Power, the industry’s leading mobile power provider for festivals. “The pop star doesn’t want to be on stage if there’s no audio or lighting.” 

But early adopters have demonstrated batteries’ efficacy. In May, Northern California’s two-day Mill Valley Music Festival was powered entirely by batteries. At the 2023 edition of Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion near Austin, Texas, the REVERB team powered all four stages with batteries, setting up a temporary on-site solar array to charge them. By 2024, the entire event was battery powered, with the only generators on site being inside the tour buses of the artists playing. In total, 350 gallons of diesel fuel were used at Luck in 2022, with that number down by 90% in 2023 and 100% in 2024, tour buses notwithstanding. This year, REVERB also brought battery power to SXSW, using it to power an outdoor stage for public performances by artists including Bootsy Collins.  

These efforts were backed by REVERB’s Music Decarbonization Project, which aims to eliminate carbon emissions created by the music industry. The Project made headlines in 2023 when it brought a temporary solar array to Lollapalooza in Chicago, using it to charge the battery system that powered the mainstage during a headlining set from Billie Eilish, arguably the modern artist most vocal about sustainability. (Eilish helped launch and fund REVERB’s Music Decarbonization Project in 2023.) 

Through this initiative with Eilish, “we were able to help Lollapalooza [get] to where they are now, where they were able to take it upon themselves,” says Gardner, “which is exactly the point of the Music Decarbonization Project.” 

Lollapalooza’s use of battery power in 2024 came after years of the fest searching for the battery technology to make it happen, with C3 testing batteries from myriad manufacturers over the last few years at events including Austin City Limits and North Carolina’s High Water.  

“The technology is evolving very quickly,” says Perry. “This year it finally got to a point where it was big enough and capable enough to put it into an installation this size.” The effort falls into Live Nation’s goal of cutting its emissions by 50% by 2030. 

Battery power at a festival functions in essentially the same way as in a hybrid car; think of battery systems as a hybridization of the stage. How long batteries last depend on what’s being powered (i.e. a stage, a lighting source, a food vendor, etc.), how long it’s powered for and the battery’s storage capacity. 

Partnered with CES, Lollapalooza 2024 used lithium ion batteries made by industrial equipment manufacturer Atlas Copco. All batteries, regardless of manufacturer, can carry only a certain amount of charge and must have charge added during the event. Each battery is connected to a secondary power source that charges it back up when necessary.   

As such, how green batteries actually are varies by the way they’re charged. Batteries can be powered off the grid if utility power is available, or from a generator running off diesel (the most common option) or biodiesel, which has less of a carbon footprint but can be hard to source. Solar panels don’t require any fuel to be burned, although setting up the necessary solar array at an event can be time- and space-intensive.  

But even when using diesel backup generators, batteries are more efficient. Landa says that if the company put a 60 kw battery at an event site, it’s unlikely the battery would ever be using that full 60 kw power, with levels more likely to be at 30-45 kw depending on what it’s powering. At that rate, the battery would likely last four to five hours before being charged by the generator, thus using less fuel.   

“That’s the hybrid approach we’re talking about,” Landa says.  

Batteries also have built-in computers, making them able to report how much power they’re using at any given time. When they need to be charged, they automatically turn on their power sources. When they reach the necessary level of charge, they automatically turn this backup source back off. And because batteries are intelligent, if a failure occurs, they’ll instantly flip on the backup source to avoid power interruptions.  

“They’re telling you everything in real time,” says Gardner. “You can literally monitor your power usage on an iPhone as it’s happening.”  

According to Landa, the top mobile battery suppliers are currently Caterpillar, Atlas Copco and portable power solutions supplier POWR2. The Vermont-based Nomad offers transportable battery systems designed for rapid deployment and operation at the utility (or grid) level, although Alex Crothers of the Burlington-based music production company Higher Ground incorporated Nomad batteries into the company’s 2024 summer season, along with batteries from Overdrive Solutions. Crothers is currently exploring how to make these batteries into backup power for the venues he co-owns, given that the concert series only happens a few times a month due to the weather. Meanwhile, Overdrive Solutions provides battery power stations and systems and has partnered with AEG on myriad events, assisting with planning and on-site execution.  

“A lot of them use the same technology in their guts,” Gardner says of all these products.  

As battery technology improves, there could come a time when they can be charged with utility power before being transported to a festival, then run for the duration without being recharged. “That is not where we are today,” says Landa. “But that is the goal.” As batteries become more efficient, they’ll also likely become smaller, which will allow more of them to fit on a shipping truck and reduce costs and carbon emissions related to transport. Some batteries currently being made by Overdrive Solutions are already as small as a rolling suitcase.  

The current hybrid battery model is what makes it possible for artists to say that their shows are completely battery powered, even though there are generators on site. “When you hear about Coldplay, they brought just as many generators as they brought batteries,” says Landa. “While Chris Martin was on stage, he may have been without any emissions, but there were diesel generators charging those batteries [after]. I’m not trying to greenwash this.” 

At Lollapalooza 2024, generators ran on b14 biodiesel, a blend of diesel and biodiesel, with C3 partnering with CES and sustainability consultancy ZAP Concepts (who worked with Coldplay on their Music of the Spheres Tour, which pledged to reduce the band’s direct carbon emissions from production, freight and band and crew travel by at least 50%) to make the project a reality. 

Of course, batteries have many festival applications beyond powering stages. REVERB worked with Coachella and Stagecoach to put up battery-powered light towers that were charged by solar. “Festival organizers loved it,” says Gardner, “because they didn’t have to run out to light towers on the outskirts of the festival in their golf carts and fill up the diesel generators.”   

Perry of C3 says that after the success of 2024, Lollapalooza will likely roll out additional battery usage incrementally, ultimately working to entirely replace the roughly 70 generators on-site annually. This endeavor will become easier as the general supply of batteries increases, as currently, Perry says, “these types of high-capacity batteries are low supply, high demand.”  

He adds the price of the Lolla mainstage project was “not cheap,” with the festival partnering with CES, Live Nation’s sustainability program Green Nation and T-Mobile to cover costs. Landa says that while lithium-ion batteries currently cost about five times the price of diesel generators, batteries are rechargeable and built to work for a decade or longer, so buyers can spread the cost out over time.

Landa predicts that, as with electric cars and iPhones, prices will come down as technology evolves, with a trickle-down effect likely to occur. “Think electric vehicles at the top,” he says, “then think industrial applications, then think events and entertainment at the bottom of the funnel. We need the guys ahead of us to drive down cost and increase the supply chain so that it makes sense by the time it gets to the bottom of the funnel.”

As this happens, and as the industry grapples with sustainably — particularly in the face of events being affected by major and extremely freaky weather events — initiatives like REVERB’s work at Luck Reunion and SXSW and what C3 did at Lolla 2024 are meant to build broad trust, showing the industry what this technology is and that it works.  

“I think the most positive feedback that I got was that it went unnoticed,” Perry says of Lolla’s batteries. “For me, an operational person, the biggest kudos is to be smooth and unseen.” 

Lil Pump is and lambasting Taylor Swift for her endorsement of Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. The “Gucci Gang” rapper took to X on Monday (Sept. 16), where he put the pop titan on blast for supporting Harris and questioned her intelligence.

“Taylor Swift, you have no clue why ur even voting for Kamala,” he began. “Maybe cuz ur a billionaire and voting for her has 0 impact on ur life. You said do ur research, clearly you didn’t do ur research. Right after the debate u endorsed her lol Right after she lied many many times!”

Billboard has reached out to Swift’s rep for comment about Lil Pump’s tweets.

As part of his X rant, he also shared a fake comment from Taylor Swift that seemingly called Pump out and unleashing Swifties on him. Numerous users on X pointed out to the rapper that the tweet he purported to be from the superstar was not real.

“Stop acting like ur so innocent YOU ARE PUSHING PPL TO VOTE FOR KAMALA! Inflation through the roof and ppl are struggling to pay bills They def won’t be able to afford tix to ur shows,” he continued. “She said she will make changes right away, WHY DIDNT SHE THE PAST 3.5 years?”

In one particularly vulgar tweet, the Florida rapper questionably guaranteed he’ll be hitting the Super Bowl Halftime Show stage before T-Swift, and again pledged his allegiance to Donald Trump. “… vote 4 trump and never look back fam also i bet i perform at the superbowl before her cringe a–,” he spewed in part.

While his music hasn’t been able to cut through on the Billboard charts, Pump has pivoted to put his energy into advocating for Trump in his journey for a return to the Oval Office. The 24-year-old even declared that he’s leaving the United States if Harris wins the 2024 election.

“I swear on my dad’s grave, if this stupid-a– bi— Kamala Harris wins the f—ing election, I’m moving out of America, boy,” he said on Instagram Stories in early August. “I swear on everything.”

Even though Swift hasn’t name-dropped Donald Trump, the twice-impeached former president lashed out at the pop star. “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” the business mogul — who in May was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records — wrote in all caps on Truth Social on Sunday (Sept. 15).

Following Sept. 10’s presidential debate, Swift made a political splash when endorsing Kamala Harris. She hailed the candidate as a “warrior” and a “steady-handed, gifted leader.”

“Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most,” she wrote. “As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.”

Flavor Flav is seemingly everywhere these days. The Public Enemy hype man who became Team USA’s number one athletic supporter this summer when he opened his heart, and wallet, to help Team U.S.A.’s water polo squad — and other athletes — has made a number of new industry friends during this year of the Flavaissance.

But few have had as much of an impact was rapper-turned-country superstar Jelly Roll. In an interview with People magazine, Flav, 65, describes what it is about Jelly, 39, that he finds so endearing and inspiring. “I’m proud to say it… that’s my guy,” said Flav, who the magazine said put on a Jelly Roll T-shirt during the interview.

“Let me tell you something: Jelly Roll is one of the most positive people right now, man. And his music is so positive, so dope and it ways so much,” Flav added of the singer who gearing up to release Beautifully Broken (Oct. 11), the follow-up to his 2023 breakthrough album Whitsitt Chapel. “And not only that, but Jelly Roll’s music helped out a lot of people that have been down, you know what I’m saying? And the whole nine.”

And while they don’t seem to have a lot in common on the surface, Flav said he thinks he and Jelly essentially serve the same purpose in their music. “That’s another role that I play. I play the role like a Jelly Roll, you know what I’m saying? Because there’ll be a lot of people that be down in life and when they see me, I brighten up their day and it takes away that negativity that’s going on inside of them,” said Flav, whose indefatigable energy and positive vibes are always on full display in much the same way Jelly uses his music to speak to others who are struggling in an effort to lift them up. “Jelly Roll has the same effect. So me and Jelly Roll have something in common, man.”

The two men’s bourgeoning relationship has been chronicled on social media over the past year, including their meet cute in Sept. 2023 backstage, in which Jelly told Flav how much he loved him as the PE rapper casually dropped a bunch of Jelly’s song titles to prove his superfandom. “I’m just the son of a sinner man… I’m just one drink away from the devil,” Flav joked. In December, Jelly posted an Instagram video in which Flav brought him a birthday cake before his slot at last year’s Jingle Ball.

They also hung on the red carpet at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles in April and Flav spoke out in support of Jelly later that month when some online trolls were bullying the singer over his weight.

“On a personal note, Jelly Roll is one of the nicest, one of the absolute nicest men on the planet,” Flav said at the time. “A lot of people would love to be like Jelly Roll. All y’all trying to judge my boy Jelly Roll, I think y’all need to take a step back and judge yourself.”

Flav also introduced Jelly Roll at his The Night Before show in Detroit in April and was spotted shouting along to “Somebody Save Me” at one of Jelly’s shows in August.