After the NFL's television ratings declined about 17 percent over the 2016 and 2017 seasons, the league's fortunes appear to have turned as ESPN announced its Monday Night Football broadcasts enjoyed an 8 percent bump in 2018.

The final MNF broadcast of the season, a Broncos-Raiders matchup on Christmas Eve, managed to draw only 8.6 million viewers and a 4.5 rating, according to ESPN. Not only was that a 24 percent ratings dip, but it happened to be the ninth-least watched MNF game in the show's history.

Despite the record low, ESPN's MNF ratings still averaged 11.65 million viewers per game, which was up 8 percent from last year, according to Sports Media Watch. That's the highest average since 2015, when ESPN averaged 12.9 million viewers per game.

And Monday was not the only night dominated by the NFL in 2018.

ESPN's Jason Witten (left) and play-by-play announcer Joe Tessitore will be back in 2019

The final Monday Night Football broadcast of the season, a Broncos-Raiders matchup on Christmas Eve, managed to draw only 8.6 million viewers and a 4.5 rating, according to ESPN. Not only was that a 24 percent ratings dip, but it happened to be the ninth-least watched MNF game in the show's history. Despite the record low, ESPN's MNF ratings still averaged 11.65 million viewers per game, which was up 8 percent from last year

CBS and Fox's Thursday Night Football ratings jumped 4 percent from 2017, and with one game left to play, NBC's Sunday Night Football ratings are up 6 percent on the year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

NBC's improvement is significant because SNF was already network television's highest-rated show in 2017. In fact, despite the NFL's supposed ratings issues, 37 of the top 50 broadcasts in 2017 were actually NFL games.

Many, including President Donald Trump, blamed the NFL's falling ratings in 2016 and 2017 on players protesting inequality and racist police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. However, studies into the subject have been far from conclusive, and the league's ratings have improved overall in 2018 while a small handful of players have continued protesting.

In October, a USA Today study of Nielsen data from the 2016 and 2017 seasons found that the objections to the controversial protests did not have a major effect on league ratings. However, a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll published in September found that fewer people say they followed the league closely compared to four years earlier, and the biggest drop-off appeared to come from fans who objected to the protests.

Kenny Stills #10 and Albert Wilson #15 of the Miami Dolphins kneel during the national anthem prior to their game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on September 30

Regardless of the reason behind the ratings problems, the NFL had a strong start to the season and that has continued with the playoffs approaching.

Remarkably, league games accounted for the country's 15 largest television audiences for the month of September.

The protests began in 2016 when then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem as a way to raise awareness about inequality and police brutality against minorities.

The demonstrations were primarily a reaction to the deaths of African-American men at the hands of law enforcement.

The NFL did not institute any rule requiring players to stand for the anthem during the 2017 season, which resulted in further criticism from Trump.

In May, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell changed course and announced a new policy: Players would no longer be required to be on the field during the anthem – a rule that began in 2009 – but anyone on the field of play would be required to stand. Teams could fined for any personnel not standing, and they would have the right to fine players individually.

However, the league changed course in July and decided to negotiate a resolution with the players association. No final decision has been announced.

In May, however, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell changed course and announced a new policy: Players will no longer be required to be on the field during the anthem – a rule that began in 2009 – but anyone on the field of play will be required to stand. Teams can be fined for any personnel not standing, and they have the right to fine players individually

Kaepernick ignited a nationwide controversy in 2016 when he decided to protest inequality and racist police brutality by refusing to stand during the national anthem

If the American public truly is fed up with NFL players protesting, Nielsen ratings would have been down in markets with both unsuccessful and successful teams. However, the league took its biggest ratings hits in markets that happened to play poorly in 2017. Meanwhile, New Orleans - which is an area of strength for Trump - watched more NFL as the Saints finished 11-5

Despite the controversy, NFL teams still split a record $8.1 billion last season.

ESPN reported the earnings after the Green Bay Packers, a public company, disclosed its financial information for 2017, revealing the franchise had received $255 million in revenue sharing.

That means 32 teams split around $8.1 billion, and that figure does not represent the league's entire revenue, which was estimated at $14 billion for 2017 - the most of any professional sports league, according to Bloomberg. Per league rules, the NFL shares just over half of its revenue among all teams.

The NFL was a tax-exempt non-profit until 2015, when it changed its status with the IRS.

The money primarily came from revenue from the league's television packages, according to ESPN. That is an increase of 4.9 percent, due in part to the rising value of the NFL Thursday Night Football franchise.

According to Bloomberg, the NFL added another $50 million for its streaming deal with Amazon, which the league has extended for another two years and $130 million. Other added profits came from the incremental raises that were previously build into the NFL's television deals.

Most importantly for the NFL, Packers president Mark Murphy said the lingering effect of some issues, including the national anthem controversy, did not harm to bottom line.

ESPN announcer Anthony "Booger" McFarland sits atop a 10-foot-high movable platform nicknamed the 'BoogMobile' as he broadcasts the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens NFL preseason football game from the sideline in Indianapolis

With coach Jon Gruden leaving the MNF booth to return to the Oakland Raiders, ESPN debuted a new broadcasting team on Monday night this year.

The group of former Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, play-by-play announcer Joe Tessitore and sideline reporter Anthony 'Booger' McFarland, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle, are slated to return in 2019, but they did receive their fair share of criticism this year.

Primarily, fans complained that the mobile viewing chair used by McFarland along NFL sidelines was blocking their view of the field during games.

The BoogMobile, as it's known, is a chair attached to a vehicle that drives up and down the sideline during Monday Night Football games and gives McFarland a bird's-eye view of the field. Before the season, ESPN anticipated that McFarland would block fans' views, so the network attached a television monitor to the back of the chair, to give everyone an idea of what they were missing.

The problem was that the monitor showed the game on a slight delay, so fans that paid premium prices for seats in the lower bowl were understandably upset by the situation.

During a MNF game between the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills, however, that monitor was replaced with transparent plexiglass.

A Rochester-based radio host named 'Duffy' announced the change on Twitter: 'The #ESPN BoogerMobile has switched from giant tv background to clear glass background.#GoBills'

License Plate Guy - a well-known New York Giants fan named Joseph Ruback who wears a chain of personalized license plates around his neck during games – attacked ESPN on Twitter a week earlier.

A former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle, McFarland got the nickname 'Booger' from his mother when he was a child. Now that nickname has been re-purposed for his mobile chair

'Can't say I didn't have a good view of that freaking shot right there,' Ruback tweeted during the Giants' loss to the Atlanta Falcons on October 22. 'Ridiculous. Booger, get out of the freaking way!'

The BoogMobile was not ESPN's only issue in 2018. In November, Witten made a somewhat flattering reference to O.J. Simpson.

When talking about New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, Witten first referenced Simpson, who was acquitted of murder charges in 1995, only to be found responsible for the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in a civil trial the following year.

'Think of all the great running backs - and I would certainly put Barkley in there - that never got to a Super Bowl: O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson, LaDainian Tomlinson,' Witten said. 'They never got an opportunity.'

Although Simpson became the first NFL running back to eclipse 2,000 yards in a single season (his yardage record was later broken by Dickerson with the Los Angeles Rams) he never made it to a Super Bowl with either the Bills or the San Francisco 49ers.

Through no fault of his own, Saquon Barkley (right) drew a comparison to O.J. Simpson on Monday, thanks to ESPN's Monday Night Football commentator Jason Witten

Witten did not belabor his point. Still, the very mention of Simpson – who recently served nine years in a Nevada prison for armed robbery – was enough to ignite a chorus of criticism on social media.

Wrote one Twitter user: 'Out of all the running backs Jason Witten could [have] compared Saquon Barkley to, the first name out of his mouth was OJ Simpson.'

The Dirty Sports Podcast's Twitter account had a more sarcastic reaction: 'OJ Simpson! Finally someone is giving him the much needed respect. Thank you Jason Witten.'

Another Twitter user joked, 'Jason Witten is the type of guy to say, "you too" after a waiter tells him to enjoy his meal.'

But that wasn't the only fodder for Witten during the November 12 game between the Giants and 49ers.

When ESPN's play-by-play announcer, Tessitore, explained that 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens had attended Giants quarterback Eli Manning's passing camp in 2016, Witten gave a less-than-poetic response: 'Some dreams never come true, but if you keep dreaming, you never know.'

As Robert Littal of Black Sports Online wrote, 'Witten really has no idea what he's saying when he starts a sentence.'