The swaggering NFL hit a speed bump for the jewel of its offseason, the NFL Draft.
The full, three-day NFL Draft averaged 5.2 million viewers across ESPN/ABC and NFL Network, according to Sports Business Journal — the smallest average for the event since 2017, the year before it added a broadcast network simulcast (4.6M).
After Thursday’s opening round averaged a 5.6 rating and 10.03 million viewers, Friday’s second and third rounds drew a 3.0 and 5.03 million — the smallest audience for the second night of the event since 2018 (4.79M).
It should be noted that — as was the case on Thursday — Friday’s Draft coverage faced NBA playoff competition for the first time in three years. While the NFL easily won the head-to-head over Grizzlies-Timberwolves Game 6 (3.47M), the added competition clearly had an impact. While ABC (1.3, 2.12M) and NFL Network (0.6, 985K) both posted gains for their Friday telecasts, ESPN drew its smallest Friday Draft audience in four years for coverage that mostly aired on ESPN2 to accommodate the NBA game (1.1, 1.92M).
The final five rounds (1.7, 2.78M) bucked the trend with a ratings uptick on Saturday.
NFL Draft viewership crested at 8.4 million two years ago, when it was among the only live sports programming for weeks. Excluding that outlier, the Draft has averaged between 5.2 and 6.1 million viewers in the five years since it began airing on broadcast television.
[Nielsen estimates from Sports Business Daily 5.3, ShowBuzz Daily 5.3]
