ESPN, NFL Sack Political Theater

Politics may be a spectator sport for people in terrible shape, but election returns just don’t have nearly the drawing power of America’s No. 1 televised obsession, the National Football League.

Despite being saddled with an unpromising matchup between an aging Indianapolis Colts team and the mediocre Houston Texans, the Nov. 1 installment of ESPN’s Monday Night Football still put up big numbers, averaging a week-high 11.9 million total viewers. Peyton Manning threw two TD passes in the Colts’ 30-17 home field victory, giving his team sole possession of first place in the AFC South in a game that drew 6.51

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