The NFL insisted on proceeding with its draft as scheduled despite all major sporting events in the United States being canceled or postponed indefinitely, and the result was a massive jump in television ratings over previous years.
The first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night shattered the previous viewership record for the event, drawing a whopping 15.6 million viewers. That was an increase of 37 percent over last year’s draft, and the previous high for viewership was 12.4 million in 2014.
News: Round 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft shatters All-Time Draft viewership records for night one.
Broadcast, Cable, and Digital Viewing Combine to Set a New Record High for Night One of the NFL Draft with an Average of Over 15.6M Viewers – Up +37% over 2019 pic.twitter.com/m98vXlDMaH
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 24, 2020
Sports fans are desperate for any type of fresh content with all that is going on in the world, and millions of people were clearly pleased that the NFL Draft was not postponed. The product may have looked a lot different than we have grown accustomed to, but very few people seemed bothered by that.
Ratings like those give you an idea of why Jerry Jones was able to participate in the draft from aboard his insanely luxurious yacht. NFL fans will watch just about anything, and the draft was a welcome escape for millions of people on Thursday night.
