The Oct. 22 game between the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions may be shaping up to be one of the most crucial battles of the 2012 season — not for the two football teams but for the political campaigns of President Barack Obama and likely GOP nominee Mitt Romney.
According to the
Detroit Free Press, the two presidential candidates are expected to advertise heavily during the ESPN “Monday Night Football” game, which is being aired across the key battleground states of Illinois and Michigan just two weeks before the Nov. 6 election.
For Obama it’s a matter of at least winning his home state of Illinois, and Romney is hoping to gather in Michigan, the state where he was born and his father was governor.
“Three hours of prime-time programming in a swing state,” Michigan political consultant Tom Shields told the Free Press, “may be the most expensive television time in the whole campaign.”
Rich Robinson, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, agreed.
“I have to think that broadcasters are licking their chops,” he told the newspaper, noting that political ad buys in general will increase dramatically following the national conventions in August.
“It’s going to be something to behold,” he said.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.