Who benefited most from Shedeur Sanders lasting until the fifth round of the NFL Draft?
The NFL’s television rights-holding partners.
The Day 3 NFL Draft coverage across ESPN, NFL Network, ABC, ESPN Deportes and digital channels averaged 4.3 million viewers based on fast nationals from Nielsen. That is the most-watched Day 3 on record and up more than 40 percent over last year’s final day.
Sanders, being the 144th player selected, kept viewer interest far longer than it normally would have at those numbers.
On Thursday, the first round of the draft averaged 13.6 million viewers. That marked the second-most watched first round on record. It was an 11 percent increase over 2023, which averaged 12.3 million viewers. The entire draft in Green Bay was seen by an average audience of 7.5 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and digital channels for the three-day event, making it the second most-watched NFL Draft on record. It was up 27 percent over last year. Coverage of Rounds 2 and 3 on Friday averaged 7.5 million viewers — the second most-watched Day 2 on record and up 48 percent versus 2024.
The 2020 NFL Draft holds the current viewership records for the most-watched draft in history, including a staggering 15.6 million viewers on opening night, in part because it was the first live major sports event held after COVID-19 shut down the sports world and found people staying in their homes.
An average audience of over 8.4 million viewers watched all three days of that draft across ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes and digital channels, which broke the previous high of 6.2 million viewers in 2019.
(Photo: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)