ESPN/ABC to broadcast 2024 Hall of Fame Game featuring Bears, Texans on Aug. 1

Enshrinement Published on : 5/15/2024
  • ‘Monday Night Football’ crew of Aikman-Buck-Salters will call ESPN’s first game from Canton


The 2024 Hall of Fame Game, slated for 8 p.m. ET Thursday, Aug. 1, will be broadcast live on ESPN and ABC. In the Hall of Fame Game’s 52-year history, this marks the first official broadcast on ESPN.

ESPN Deportes will carry the Spanish-language telecast of the game.

From 1971-2005, the Hall of Fame Game was televised nationally by ABC, whose sports division merged with ESPN, Inc. in 2006. 

The Chicago Bears will take on the Houston Texans in this year’s matchup, which kicks off the National Football League’s 105th season in the city where the League was born. The game will take place in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. 

ESPN today announced that the crew calling the game will include Pro Football Hall of Famer TROY AIKMAN and Joe Buck in the booth, and Lisa Salters as the lead sideline reporter.

In May 2023, at the 44th annual Sports Emmy Awards, “Monday Night Football” won a Sports Emmy for “Outstanding Live Sports Series” for the 2022 season – the trio’s first year together. 

Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season saw Aikman and Buck embark on a record-setting 22nd season broadcasting together, becoming the NFL’s longest-tenured network broadcast team. They surpassed the legendary duo of Pat Summerall and Hall of Famer JOHN MADDEN, who worked together for 21 years (1981-2001). Over their 23 seasons together, Aikman and Buck have called more than 300 regular-season games, more than 40 playoff matchups, 18 NFC Championships and Super Bowls XXXIX, XLII, XLV, XLVIII, LI and LIV. Buck and Aikman first teamed up at FOX for the 2002 season, spending 20 years together at that network.

The following is a look at the ESPN “Monday Night Football” team:

TROY AIKMAN (Game Analyst)
  • Enshrined as a member of Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2006, after a professional career that saw him win three Super Bowls (XXVII, XXVIII and XXX) with the Dallas Cowboys.
  • Joined the booth at the start of the 2001 NFL season, immediately after retiring. Sports Illustrated named him TV’s "Best Newcomer,” following his first year as a broadcaster on FOX’s No. 2 team, alongside Dick Stockton and former teammate Daryl Johnston. 
  • Has earned multiple Emmy nominations in the category of Outstanding TV Event Analyst.

Joe Buck (Play-By-Play)
  • Enters his 31st consecutive season calling NFL games, debuting with FOX sports in 1994. 
  • Received the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2020, which is presented annually by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.
  • Outside of the NFL, Buck has called 24 World Series, 22 Major League Baseball All-Star Games and five U.S. Opens, earning him the National Sports Media Association’s National Sportscaster of the Year award four times. 

Lisa Salters (Sideline Reporter)
  • Named the sideline reporter for ”Monday Night Football ”in April 2012 and is now the longest-tenured sideline reporter in MNF history.
  • Won her first Sports Emmy in the “Outstanding Personality/Reporter” category in 2023.
  • Salters also serves as the co-host of ESPN’s acclaimed “E:60” series and has been part of NBA coverage on ESPN and ABC since 2005 as a sideline reporter.
  • Became a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee in 2020.
Fans can learn more about the Hall of Fame Game and purchase tickets here.