The opening round of the NFL Draft was the most-watched in three years.
Thursday’s opening round NFL Draft coverage averaged a combined 6.1 rating and 11.63 million viewers across ESPN (2.8, 5.56M), ABC (2.55, 4.51M) and NFL Network (0.7, 1.56M), with viewership rising to 12.1 million including ESPN Deportes and digital platforms — the highest average since 2021.
Viewership slipped 1% on ESPN and was virtually flat on NFL Network, but ABC picked up the slack with a 10% increase.
This year’s average is the fourth-highest on record for the opening round of the Draft, trailing only 2021, the record-setting 2020 edition that faced zero sports competition due to COVID (15.2M) and the Johnny Manziel-fueled 2014 edition (12.37M). (As with such historical comparisons, keep in mind out-of-home viewing was not tracked in Nielsen final nationals until late 2020).
Since the NFL added a broadcast network simulcast of the Draft in 2018, the opening round has topped the 11 million mark in six of seven years. The only exception was two years ago, the only year over that span in which a quarterback was not taken first overall.
While the Draft averaged the kind of audience reserved for some championship events — topping all five games of last year’s World Series — it remains below the level of a typical NFL game. Including the postseason, 112 of 139 NFL game windows averaged a larger audience last season.
(Complete sports viewership for Thursday, April 25, should be available on this site Monday.)
(Individual network figures via Programming Insider 4.26)
