Range Music Publishing, a division of Range Media Partners, has finalized an exclusive global administration deal with Universal Music Publishing Group. This marks a major expansion of Range’s existing partnership with Universal, which includes a deal with Capitol Music Group and Virgin Music Group on the recorded music side.

News of the administration deal with UMPG comes just after Range Music Publishing announced the signing of Sean Cook, one of the collaborators for Shaboozey‘s breakout hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” The Range Music Publishing roster includes Grant Averill, Tyler Dopps, Two Fresh, Luke Niccoli, Simon Oscroft and Rudey who are included in this new deal. Range clients Warburton, Luke Grimes and Dylan Gossett are not part of the new agreement.

Established in 2023, Range Music Publishing is helmed by Casey Robison, who previously led Big Deal Music Group as its co-president and partner. Its parent organization, Range Media Partners, is a multi-faceted company, representing businesses and talent in all areas of entertainment — including music, film, tv, production, comedy and sports.

On the music management side, Range Music represents some of the music industry’s biggest talents including Jack Harlow, Shaboozey, Tanya Tucker, Cordae, Pentatonix, Saweetie, Midland, Murda Beatz, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Lauv, Alec Benjamin, Gossett, MAX, Bazzi, Sean Douglas, Paul Russell, Wondagurl, Russell Dickerson and more.  

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with our friends at UMPG as we build Range Music Publishing and grow our global footprint,” says Robison. “UMPG’s impressive team will help us maximize creative opportunities while providing first class administration for our growing roster of artists and songwriters. We couldn’t be more proud to call UMPG our partners.”

Range Media Partners co-founder and managing partner Matt Graham continues: “On behalf of our partnership we are thrilled to be formalizing our longstanding relationship with UMPG. The collaboration ensures greater creative support and administration for our writers, producers and artists. Together, we are committed to connecting the dots across our myriad of talent as well as the varying facets of our film, tv, sports and gaming relationships.”

Jennifer Knoepfle, UMPG executive vp and co-head of A&R, said: “In the short time Range has focused on publishing, they have already made a strong impact in the marketplace. Casey, Sam, Matt and team have a great ethos and vision and we are happy to be their admin partner on current and future endeavors.”

East Tennessee native Morgan Wallen had a triumphant homecoming over the weekend, when his headlining tour touched down at Knoxville’s Neyland Stadium for two shows on Friday (Sept. 20) and Sunday (Sept. 22), as the current seven-time CMA Awards nominee welcomed 156,161 fans to the venue.

He also had several surprise guests over the two shows, welcoming Eric Church for Friday’s, while Miranda Lambert and Darius Rucker made unexpected appearances at Sunday’s show. Hardy and Ernest also joined Wallen on both shows.

Church joined Wallen for a performance of “Quittin’ Time,” before Hardy and Ernest took the stage to join on “Up Down” and a mashup of “Flower Shops”/”Cowgirls.” In introducing Church, Wallen told the crowd how seeing a Church show made Wallen want to sing country music.

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, brother,” Wallen told Church.

On Sunday evening, Lambert — who just released her new album Postcards From Texas — joined Wallen on stage for a live performance of his “Thought You Should Know,” which the two wrote with Nicolle Galyon.

Wallen said in introducing Lambert, “Me and this next artist, we got together one day and wrote a few songs, and this is the first song we ever wrote. I brought this song into the room and I needed some help from a lady’s perspective to help me write a song for my mama … we wrote a couple of other songs that day. I don’t know if they’ll ever see the light of day, but we drank a lot of vodka and wrote this song right here for my mama.”

From there, Hardy and Ernest again joined Wallen for “Up Down” and “Cowgirls,” but they also added a special song, “Talkin’ Tennessee,” just for the Neyland Stadium shows.

Three-time Grammy winner Rucker also joined Wallen as they performed the former’s RIAA Diamond-certified hit “Wagon Wheel.”

Wallen’s guests over the weekend weren’t limited to music artists — he also welcomed two-time Super Bowl champion and former University of Tennessee Knoxville quarterback Peyton Manning for the second of two weekend walkouts on Sept. 22. Manning, who wore his retired college uniform, was joined by current UTK football coach Josh Heupel, quarterback Nico Iamaleava and wide receiver Bru McCoy for an all-Vols walkout. On Sept. 20, Wallen’s walkout included 2024 National Champion Tennessee Volunteers baseball team and coach Tony Vitello.

Ahead of Wallen’s two headlining shows at Neyland Stadium, The Morgan Wallen Foundation donated $140,000 to Gibbs Youth Sports, with the donation going toward renovating Ruritan Park, which serves students from Wallen’s alma mater, Gibbs High School, as well as surrounding areas in Knox County. The donation will allow Gibbs Youth Sports to rebuild the inside of the fieldhouse to offer indoor fielding and batting options, as well as renovations including batting cage and machines, pitching lanes and a fielding area.

Heading into this year’s CMA Awards, Wallen leads all nominees and is up for seven awards, among them entertainer of the year, male vocalist of the year and song of the year (“I Had Some Help,” his collaboration with Post Malone). This year’s CMA Award will be held Nov. 20 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

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Monday Night Football is back with a doubleheader! The Jacksonville Jaguars face the Buffalo Bills, while the Washington Commanders face the Cincinnati Bengals for MNF Week 3 on Monday (Sept. 23).

The Bills are set to host the Jaguars at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., to lead off the first of two games on the Monday’s roster. The game will air on ESPN.

Next up, the Bengals host the Commanders at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium, airing live on ABC.

The Voice contestant Micah Tryba will perform the national anthem ahead of the Bills vs. Jaguars game. Country singer Walker Montgomery will perform the anthem before the Bengals vs. Commanders game.

For the football fans who want to watch them face off in person, there’s still time to score tickets at an affordable price. The cheapest tickets for the Bills vs. Jaguars game are currently priced from around $55 and up at StubHub and $75 and up for the Bengals vs. Commanders.

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, ESPN & More

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.

You can stream MNF games on DirecTV, Fubo, Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV.

Select MNF games will simulcast across ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+, including tonight’s doubleheader. The Jaguars vs. Bills will air on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT (Monday Night Kickoff with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman is at 7:15 p.m. ET).

The Commanders vs. Bengals game airs on ABC and streams ESPN+. As with most MNF games, kickoff will start at 8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT.

This season’s doubleheaders include games between the Tennessee Titans vs. Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks vs. Detroit Lions on Sept. 30.

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 $79.98/month (reg. $94.98/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. 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 (regularly $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 (regularly $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 around $22 off the 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 Basic bundles 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. The season’s debut game 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 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 a season of 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 DirecTV, Fubo and other streaming plans mentioned above.

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.

It’s officially been one year since Chappell Roan altered the course of her career with the release of debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, and the 26-year-old musician didn’t let the anniversary pass without marking the occasion on Instagram Sunday (Sept. 22).

Sharing a photo of herself holding up a Midwest Princess vinyl in front of a wall of promotional posters for the project, Roan wrote that her life “has been changed forever” in the 12 months since she dropped the 14-track LP.

“this has been amazing and hard and beautiful and eye opening and empowering and transformative and every emotion ever,” she continued. “Thank you thank you thank you for everything. Thank you for showing up for this project and believing in me.”

The Missouri native also noted that the success she’s experienced over the past year wouldn’t have been possible without the help of “a team of people working their a–es off day and night to keep this afloat.” “I am so lucky and feel so loved,” she added.

Produced by Dan Nigro, Midwest Princess didn’t fully take flight until several months after its September 2023 release. After gaining traction with her opening stint on Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour this past spring, Roan debuted at No. 127 on the Billboard 200 in April. She’s steadily climbed the chart in the months since thanks in part to her headline-making performances at festivals over the summer, and in late August, Midwest Princess finally reached No. 2.

None of the album’s songs charted on the Billboard Hot 100 until June, when “Red Wine Supernova” and “Hot to Go!” finally entered the ranking. Since then, Roan’s also notched entries with “My Kink Is Karma,” “Pink Pony Club,” “Casual” and “Femininomenon,” though her biggest hit to date is still No. 6-peaking follow-up single “Good Luck, Babe!”

And though the rollercoaster ride has led to some major highs — a best new artist win at the 2024 VMAs, for instance — Roan has also been open about the lows of fame. “I went to a psychiatrist last week because I was like, ‘I don’t know what’s going on,’” she revealed in a recent interview with The Guardian.

“She diagnosed me with severe depression — which I didn’t think I had because I’m not actually sad,” Roan continued. “But I have every symptom of someone who’s severely depressed. I think it’s because my whole life has changed. Everything that I really love to do now comes with baggage.”