If NFL Draft ratings had maxed out on cable, the addition of broadcast TV has lifted the event to new heights.
The three-day NFL Draft averaged a combined 3.9 rating and 6.1 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and NFL Network, up 8% in ratings and 11% in viewership from last year on ESPN, ESPN2, FOX and NFL Network (3.6, 5.5M), and up 34% and 33% respectively from 2017 on ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network (2.9, 4.6M).
This year’s draft ranks as the highest rated and most-watched on record, topping the previous highs set last year. The back-to-back records coincide with the draft airing on broadcast television for the first time.
Individual figures for each network were not immediately available.
As previously noted, last Thursday’s opening round combined for a 7.0 rating (flat) and 11.10 million viewers (-1%) and last Friday’s second and third rounds combined for a 3.8 and 5.75 million (+20%).
Saturday’s final rounds combined for a 2.2 and 3.16 million, up 9% in ratings and 8% in viewership from last year (2.0, 2.91M) and up 31% and 26% respectively from 2017 (1.7, 2.51M).
The Friday and Saturday telecasts were the most-watched since the draft moved to a three-day format in 2010.
As one would expect, the NFL Draft nearly doubled last year’s NBA Draft, which had a 2.0 and 3.07 million airing on one night and one network. No other recent pro sports draft has exceeded 300,000 viewers.
The Draft averaged a higher rating and more viewers than last year’s Stanley Cup Final (2.7, 4.80M). It also averaged a larger audience than last year’s Major League Baseball ALCS (5.8M) and NLCS (3.8M). Those events aired on one network.
[Numbers from NFL Communications 4.29; Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 4.30]
