No debate: Clinton-Trump sends Falcons-Saints to lowest MNF rating ever

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton may be historically disliked presidential candidates, but they attracted enough eyeballs to cause Monday Night Football misery.

Take a highly anticipated presidential debate, add two NFC South teams off to shaky starts and you’ve got the recipe for a poorly rated Monday Night Football match-up.

Of course, MNF is not what it once was, as the Sunday night game is now the weekly prime time focus of the NFL’s spotlight. Shifting it to ESPN a while back also meant less people would watch, but never fewer, apparently than just watched the Atlanta Falcons visit the New Orleans Saints this Monday.

As numerous Twitter users cracked, the 8 million people who did watch were likely fans of both teams supplemented by fantasy football players banking on big performances by the offensive stars. For everyone but Julio Jones owners, the game at least offered plenty in that regard, with all kinds of fireworks.

It’s worth noting that Monday Night Football won’t face this issue again during the election season. The second presidential debate is on a Sunday night — when Sunday Night Football will feature the New York Giants visiting the Green Bay Packers — and the third and final one is on a Wednesday.

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The debate, meanwhile, had no problem attracting a large audience. It’s estimated that more than 81 million people watched on 11 networks, plus another 3 million more on PBS. By any measure, it was the most-watched debate of all time.

Still, 8 million people tuned in is a problem other sports would love to have. Shed no tears for MNF, as it will continue along just fine as long as the NFL is the top dog of American sports.