• Loading stock data...
Friday, June 6, 2025

NFL Draft’s 1st Round TV Audience Up 11% to 11.4M Viewers

  • Quarterbacks make TV difference, with three taken in the first four picks.
  • Only one QB was taken in last year’s entire 1st round.
C.J. Stroud selected second in NFL Draft.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL is a quarterback-driven league. It turns out the television appeal of the NFL Draft is as well.

With three QBs taken in the first four picks, average viewership for the first round rose 11% to 11.4 million viewers across TV and digital. 

Thursday night’s first round was covered live across The Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN/ESPN Deportes, ABC, the NFL Network and various digital channels.

The league said it drew a total unduplicated audience of 34.2 million, up 2% from last year. 

The selection strategy by NFL clubs this year was a far cry from the 2022 Draft, when only one QB was taken in the 1st Round (Kenny Pickett, who went to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 20). 

Without QBs to drive ratings, TV audiences for the 2022 Draft fell to their lowest levels in five years. 

A general view while the Dallas Cowboys make their pick during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft in Las Vegas.

Nobody Wanted To Show The NFL Draft. Now It Owns TV.

Televising it was once a preposterous idea. Now it’s the gold standard.
April 22, 2023

As a TV spectacle, the NFL Draft is part reality show, part pigskin Woodstock. There was plenty of QB drama to attract viewers Thursday night. 

Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young of Alabama went No. 1 to the Carolina Panthers, C.J. Stroud of Ohio State went No. 2 to the Houston Texans, and the raw but talented Anthony Richardson went No. 4 to the Indianapolis Colts.

There was also some green room suspense as millions of TV viewers watched QB Will Levis of Kentucky fall through the entire first round without getting picked. Levis left Kansas City rather than spend another excruciating night in front of the cameras. 

While the numbers were strong, they were still well off the record 15.6 million viewers for the first round of the 2020 Draft at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Thursday’s opening round of the NFL Draft averaged a combined 11.29 million viewers across ESPN (5.62M), ABC (4.11M) and NFL Network (1.56M), up 13% from last year (10.03M). The ESPN and ABC broadcasts increased 26% and 8% respectively from last year (4.45M; 3.80M), which made up for a 12% decline for NFL Network,” said Sports Media Watch.

“The combined audience is the third-highest on record for night one of the draft, trailing 2021 (12.52M) and the anomalous 2020 edition that aired during an unprecedented drought of live sporting events (15.26M).”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

ESPN has not let NBA Countdown “marinate” as talent changes too frequently, ex-host Michelle Beadle tells FOS.
breaking

SiriusXM Parts Ways With Michelle Beadle, Cody Decker

Beadle, Decker exit three months before Stephen A. Smith takes their slot.
Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers Finally Agrees to Deal With Steelers

The one-year deal is reportedly set to be signed Friday.

Chiefs, Royals Have Massive Stadium Decision: Kansas or Missouri?

The Missouri Senate approves the stadium funding in an overnight session.
Feb 13, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis pose with the new head coach Kellen Moore at Ochsner Sports Performance Center.

NFL Now Has More Female Team Owners Than Ever Before

A women’s club is emerging in the NFL ownership ranks.

Featured Today

May 27, 2015; Paris, France; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) knocks the clay off her shoe during her match against Simona Halep (ROU) on day four of the French Open at Roland Garros

Roland-Garros’s Iconic Red-Clay Surface Is a Precise Alchemy

The exact science behind maintaining the French Open’s red clay.
Alex Jensen introductory press conference on Monday, March 17, 2025.
June 3, 2025

Alex Jensen Started Utah Utes HC Job While Still Coaching the Mavs

How Jensen began building an NCAA program while patrolling the Dallas sideline.
May 31, 2025

PSG and the City of Paris Can Join European Soccer’s Elite

What a maiden Champions League title would mean for the French club.
May 30, 2025

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.

As TNT Sports Shifts, WBD Investors Reject $52M Zaslav Pay

Company shareholders reject the executive’s pay in a non-binding vote.
May 30, 2025

French Open Scheduling Sparks Backlash Over Women’s Time Slots

Coco Gauff has also said the French Open schedule could be improved.
hanson_smiling
May 30, 2025

Scott Hanson Agrees to Long-Term Deal for NFL RedZone

His contract expired after the 2024 season.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
May 30, 2025

Panthers-Oilers Rematch Could Be Big in Canada. Will U.S. Ratings Dip?

Likely viewership declines in the U.S. are countered by robust Canadian audiences.
May 28, 2025

NBA East Finals Delivers Strong TV Ratings, but West Is Struggling

The Pacers and Thunder are both up 3–1 in their conference finals series.
Around the Horn
May 23, 2025

Behind the Scenes of Around the Horn’s Final Days

FOS followed Tony Reali at the penultimate taping of the ESPN icon.
Around the Horn - October 26, 2020
May 23, 2025

‘Quirky, Nutty, Bombastic’: 10 ‘Around the Horn’ Faces on Their Top Moments

“A quirky, nutty, bombastic, mostly wrong, sometimes right, crazy sports family.”