ESPN announced Friday the network will not broadcast the national anthem prior to kick off of "Monday Night Football" games this season, according to network president Jimmy Pitaro.

"We generally have not broadcasted the anthem and I don't think that will change this year," Pitaro said, per Sara Fischer of Axios.com.

"Our plan going into this year is to not broadcast the anthem ... again that could change. It's unpredictable what could happen in the world but as of now, we're not. We have communicated that back to the NFL. They have not asked but as courtesy and good partners we have let them know what our plans are.

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"We want to be in business with the NFL and I believe they want to be business with us," Pitaro added. "We're optimistic about not just the next four years but for the long-term partnership."

Pitaro also said the network is going to stay out of politics, but will cover the news if sports and politics collide.

"ESPN is not a political organization. It's not our job to cover politics, purely, but we'll cover the intersection of sports and politics," Pitaro added. "When something happens, when Eagles get disinvited from White House, when someone takes a knee, if we think it's newsworthy we're going to cover it."