Do the NFL a favor or two and it’ll pay off — just ask ESPN.

After going all-out in its coverage of the league’s free agency and coordinating a record-breaking three-day draft broadcast amid coronavirus issues, the Worldwide Leader was given a heavily sought-after gift from the NFL:

The Kansas City Chiefs-Baltimore Ravens Week 3 matchup for “Monday Night Football” on Sept. 28.

“Giving the best game of the year to ESPN was a back-pat from the league,” NBC Sports’ Peter King wrote in his “Football Morning in America” column on Monday. He noted that CBS, the AFC right-holder, and NBC, the Sunday night broadcaster, really wanted a game that showed up on every must-watch list for the 2020 regular season.

In the end, however, ESPN won out, getting to showcase the showdown between two Super Bowl challengers and their dual-threat QBs. The NFL’s last two MVPs, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, under the bright lights in Baltimore in primetime piling up the yards and points?

It looks like ESPN’s investment is paying off.