ESPN Getting Rid of "Monday Night Football" Musical Halftime Shows

Moving forward, Monday will be known as the night that music died.

ESPN, which began showing musical performances during Monday Night Football as part of the Genesis Halftime Show, is reversing course and pulling the plug on the segment.

In its place, ESPN has implemented a segment that featuring a roundup of breaking news from around the NFL and more reports from league insider Adam Schefter.

The network did not give any formal reason for the change, but ESPN higher-ups reportedly “decided that using halftime for more news and analysis was ultimately the best way to serve” NFL fans, according to AdAge.

The move makes sense as many of the musical acts who appeared in the segment — Bush, 5 Seconds of Summer, G-Eazy and Tainy & Anuel — seemed out of place for a national football audience.

Naturally, the segment was routinely mocked on Twitter — as was its demise.

NEW YORK-Asked dog:
“Leroy, did you hear about genesis halftime show?"
Leroy:
Me: "Died. They killed it”
Thought he woud cry. pic.twitter.com/zMVXOcgSeI

— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) October 29, 2019

When you hear that ESPN has cancelled the Genesis Halftime Show. #mondaynightfootball
https://t.co/4RFUv56Db4

— Eric (@dekabr_eric6) October 29, 2019

While the mocking didn’t help, AdAge reports that some internal moves at ESPN may also have led to the segment being spiked.

“The Genesis scenario had been complicated by the fact that some of the principals involved in hashing out the original idea are no longer around to advocate for it,” according to the publication. “Ed Erhardt, ESPN’s former president of global sales and marketing, left Bristol at the beginning of the year, while the Genesis exec who devised the concept for the new-look show, brand guru Manfred Fitzgerald, has been keeping a low profile of late.”

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Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”