Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
By Drew Lerner on

Unsurprisingly, the Shedeur Sanders draft saga, which extended into the event’s final day, resulted in the most-watched Day 3 in NFL Draft history and the second most-watched NFL Draft of all time.

According to a press release issued by NFL Media, Day 3 draft coverage, which included Rounds 4-7, averaged 4.3 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, and ESPN Deportes on Saturday afternoon. Viewership was up a staggering 43% versus last year’s late-round coverage.

Overall, the NFL Draft averaged 7.5 million viewers across the ESPN family of networks and NFL Network. That figure is up 27% compared to last year and marks the second most-watched NFL Draft ever, behind only the 2020 edition, which was one of the few sports-related events held during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

No doubt, the continual fall of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders drove much of the viewership increase. First-round viewership was up a healthy 11%. Audiences on Days 2 and 3 saw increases of 48% and 43%, respectively, as viewers wondered when Sanders, who was widely projected as a first-round pick, would finally be selected.

According to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, NFL Network viewership increased by 52% year-over-year, while ESPN networks saw a 22% rise. It was the most-watched draft since 2017 for NFL Network and the most-watched since 2020 for ESPN.

This year’s draft was a unique circumstance that is unlikely to be replicated anytime soon. But both ESPN and NFL Network were able to reap the rewards of a rather unfortunate storyline.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.

View all posts by Drew Lerner