Day 3 of the NFL Draft last weekend was the second-most watched of all time, according to the league’s data, stealing the show from another high-profile event that took place on the same day—the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican.
“2nd most-watched NFL Draft ever,” the NFL wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday. “7.5 million avg. viewers across @ESPNNFL, @nflnetwork, ABC & digital channels—up +27 percent vs. 2024. Most-watched Day 3 on record!”
Why It Matters
Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday in St. Peter’s Square, in the Vatican, was attended by tens of thousands of people, including dozens among heads of state, monarchs and religious leaders—including President Donald Trump.
While the ceremony became the biggest gathering of world leaders since Trump’s inauguration in January and the chance for high-profile meetings, like that between the U.S. president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, it clearly didn’t capture Americans’ imagination as much as the NFL Draft, which saw the recruitment of players which are considered the future of the sport.
What To Know
While there was no competition between the two televised events, it is interesting to see what American viewers are tuning in to.
An estimated 3.8 million viewers in the U.S. tuned in to watch the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, April 25, according to numbers shared by Nielsen with Newsweek.
Twelve television networks in the U.S. aired coverage of the funeral, with start times between 3:00 a.m. and 3:55 a.m. ET and end times between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. ET. The vast majority of these American viewers—approximately 80 percent—were between 55 years old and older.
Crucially, the late pope’s funeral took place between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. local time in the Vatican, which was between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. ET, a difficult time for Americans to watch the event.
There are also likely more football fans in the U.S. than Catholics.
According to recent data by the Pew Research Center, 20 percent of U.S. adults today describe themselves as Catholics. Considering that there were about 267 million U.S. adults in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there should be about 53 million Catholic adults in the country.
Genius Sports reported in 2023 that 51 percent of Americans called themselves NFL fans.
The NFL Draft over the weekend also saw a higher participation than the late pope’s funeral. The event in Green Bay, Wisconsin, was attended by over 600,000 sports fans, according to the NFL. Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican was attended by over 250,000 people, according to Vatican officials.
What About Previous Events?
The previous pope, Benedict XVI, died in 2022, long after resigning from his post as pontiff. So the last papal funeral we can compare to that of Pope Francis’ last weekend is that of Pope John Paul II on April 8, 2005 in the Vatican.
At the time, the televised event had a U.S. viewership of 8.8 million across ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC—significantly higher than that of Pope Francis’ funeral.
Pope John Paul II’s papacy lasted a staggering 26 years and covered tumultuous times for the world, while Pope Francis’ papacy lasted a comparatively smaller 12 years.
On the other hand, the NFL Draft is getting more popular with American TV viewers. The 2025 NFL Draft was watched by an audience of 7.5 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and digital channels for the three-day event, according to the NFL.
While it came second to the 2020 NFL Draft in terms of viewership, audience numbers were up 27 percent compared to last year.