Netflix Passes on NFL Draft Rights As Fox, Streamers Battle

Seven years after its one-and-done shot at covering the NFL Draft, Fox Sports wants back in on the league’s marquee offseason event. 

Fox, ESPN, and Google are among the media giants bidding for media rights to the draft, which would begin in 2026. 

Netflix declined an offer to bid for the rights, sources say. The company aired a Christmas Day doubleheader that broke regular-season streaming records, but remains on the bench for draft coverage.

That leaves Disney’s ABC (alongside ESPN), Fox Sports, and Google (YouTube), which submitted bids last year, according to Puck News. Amazon Prime Video, coming off its most-watched Thursday Night Football season ever, is a long-shot contender.

The league has not announced a timeline for a decision. But given its rapid expansion into streaming live NFL games with Prime, Netflix, ESPN+, and NBC’s Peacock, sources say the league is likely to add one global streaming partner to its draft coverage plans.

Over the decades, the draft has morphed from a sleepy event with no TV coverage into a three-day media spectacle.

Incumbent draft partner ESPN was the first network to televise the event back in 1980. With analyst Mel Kiper Jr. and host Chris Berman beaming into millions of homes every spring, ESPN became synonymous with the draft, which blossomed into a football Woodstock that’s part reality TV show, part traveling circus.  

Led by host Rich Eisen, NFL Network launched its own coverage in 2006. The two cable networks have gone head-to-head ever since, with ESPN annually dominating the ratings race.

The Contenders

ESPN’s 45-year history with the draft didn’t come without hiccups. Rival Fox Sports got its foot in the door by simulcasting NFL Network’s coverage of the 2018 event along with ESPN and NFLN. The Fox incursion set off alarm bells in Bristol and Burbank. The next year, ESPN parent Disney countered by creating a more college football–centric broadcast on sister network ABC hosted by Kirk Herbstreit. That kept Fox at bay.

But sources say Fox now wants back in. Tom Brady is the face of the network’s NFL coverage, with nine years and over $330 million remaining on his contract. If he were to take part in draft coverage as Troy Aikman and Joel Klatt did with the NFL Network/Fox coverage seven years ago, that would add to the network’s appeal.

Google has been in business with the NFL since 2015. In late 2022, the league announced a $2 billion per year deal to distribute Sunday Ticket across YouTube TV. During Super Bowl week, YouTube also generated six million live views for the league’s flag football game.

Another factor complicating matters: Disney has restarted long-dormant negotiations to buy the league’s media properties, including NFL Network and NFL RedZone, for around $2 billion. One reason why those talks—which had been tabled for many months—are back on is so ESPN has a backup method to maintain its draft rights, sources say. NFLN’s eight live games would also sweeten ESPN’s game inventory beyond Monday Night Football.

It’s no surprise that the draft has become a sought-after property by broadcasters, cable networks, and streamers, notes Doug Perlman, chief executive of Sports Media Advisors. Coverage of last year’s first round from Detroit averaged 12.1 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ABC, ESPN Deportes, and digital channels. That was up 6% from the year before—and the highest round 1 viewership since 2021.

“College football is bigger than ever. So people know a lot of these guys coming in. Some people connect to it that way,” Perlman tells FOS. “If they can get people to follow the draft, and the up-close-and-personal narratives, it gives them one more reason to watch [the NFL] on Sundays. It’s smart.” 

The NFL, Netflix, ESPN, Fox, YouTube, and Prime declined to comment for this story or could not be reached.