ESPN’s first Monday Night Football broadcast of the 2026 season got off to an awkward start when a technical issue left viewers without audio during the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against the Denver Broncos.

The broadcast team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman was cut off toward the end of the first quarter, forcing ESPN to briefly go to a commercial break. When the broadcast returned, Buck acknowledged the problem with a joke about the silence.

“Welcome back to NFL Kickoff presented by YouTube TV. We start the second quarter. We lost audio at the end of the first quarter on this humid night in Kansas City. The reviews are in. Buck and Aikman have never sounded better,” Buck said.

“There’s a lot of people nodding their heads right now,” Aikman added.

The exchange gave Buck and Aikman a chance to laugh off the technical issue, but viewers had already noticed something was wrong. Some even took to social media to joke about whether the problem was with ESPN or their own televisions.

“ESPN had me thinking I went deaf,” one user on X wrote. Another user said they initially thought their TV was the problem.

The audio problem came during a season when ESPN has already made plenty of changes to its NFL coverage. Pat McAfee has taken on a bigger role with Monday Night Countdown, while Michael Irvin has also returned to the network.

Buck and Aikman, meanwhile, entered the final year of their five-year contracts with ESPN, which they signed in 2022. That made the early technical problems even more noticeable during one of the network’s biggest weekly broadcasts.

And this was not the first time ESPN has faced complaints over its NFL broadcasts.

Chiefs fans experienced a similar issue in October 2024 when viewers complained about persistent audio problems during Kansas City’s Monday Night Football matchup against the New Orleans Saints.

ESPN has also faced criticism involving its handling of NFL Network and NFL RedZone. After ESPN acquired both networks in 2025, viewers continued to report technical problems. In December, NFL RedZone viewers heard static over Scott Hanson’s voice while he was discussing the Indianapolis Colts-Jacksonville Jaguars game.

ESPN was responsible for distributing NFL Network and RedZone to cable and satellite providers, rather than producing all of the programming itself, but the problems still brought criticism toward the network.

ESPN’s technical issues have also extended beyond football.

The network has faced similar complaints during its NHL coverage. During a Carolina Hurricanes-Ottawa Senators game in April, viewers pointed out inconsistent audio levels, with the crowd noise and commentary repeatedly changing in volume.

“The weird audio inconsistencies you’ve been mentioning were very present in this game. One moment crowd is roaring, next it sounds like the announcers are not even there,” hockey coach Christopher Parker wrote.

That makes Monday night’s issue another frustrating moment for ESPN, particularly as the network continues to expand its presence across sports.

There was also an awkward moment for Buck later in the broadcast when he accidentally referred to Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin as “Tony Franklin.”

So while Buck managed to joke his way through the initial audio failure, the broadcast still gave viewers plenty to talk about. For ESPN, though, the bigger concern will be making sure the technical problems do not become a recurring part of its Monday Night Football coverage.