Will Tonight’s Bears-Vikings Game Be In 4K, 1080p HD Or 720p HD?

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Follow me on X.

TV Answer Man, will Monday Night Football be in 720p or 1080p? I don’t understand what’s going on with the ESPN app. They have a different video quality every time I watch it! I watched tennis yesterday and the picture sucked! – Gene, Pittsburgh.

Gene, I feel your pain. ESPN’s new Unlimited app, which costs $29.99 a month, does not offer anything in 4K, even upscaled 4K. In contrast, the new Fox One app does offer upscaled 4K feeds of select college football games.

Even worse, ESPN’s feeds of live sporting events often vary significantly in picture quality. Most live broadcasts, such as the U.S. Open tennis tournament and college football games, are in 1080p HD, the highest standard for High Definition. However, some events are streamed in 720p HD, arguably the lowest standard for high-def. The reduced quality of the 720p HD broadcast, particularly after you just watched something in 1080p HD on the ESPN app, is so glaring that it nearly destroys the experience.

The 720p HD streams seem most commonplace on live sporting events billed as ESPN on ABC; these are games that air on ABC but are produced by the ESPN crew. (They are all owned by the same company so it’s a distinction in name only.) For example, yesterday’s U.S. Open tennis men’s final, which was broadcast on ABC and streamed on the ESPN app, was in 720p on both. However, earlier matches which did not air on ABC were in 1080p HD on the ESPN app. (And they looked great!)

This leads us to conclude that ESPN is purposely offering the lesser HD picture for a ESPN on ABC event because it’s the same one provided by the local ABC affiliates, which is 720p HD. Perhaps the network feels obligated to not provide a better image on the app than what local ABC viewers will get. Otherwise, the affiliate viewers might stop watching their local channels and watch the app instead.

This brings us to tonight’s Minnesota Vikings-Chicago Bears Monday Night Football game at 8:15 p.m. ET. Both ESPN and ABC will air the game which means it’s likely to be in 720p HD, based on how ESPN has handled similar events on ABC that are streamed on ESPN.

Fans might get lucky and the sports network will change its formula for tonight. But I doubt it.

Update: The Vikings-Bears game was in 1080p HD!

Gene, I hope that answers your question. Happy viewing and stay safe!

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