The 2021 NFL draft generated some incredibly impressive TV ratings.
According to a release from ESPN, the three-day event on ESPN, ABC and the NFL Network averaged 6.1 million viewers from Thursday through Saturday. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
That’s good enough to make the 2021 NFL draft the third most-watched draft in league history.
All eyes were on the ’21 #NFLDraft, driving it to become the 3rd most-watched Draft ever
???? 6.1M viewers across 3 days beats all Drafts prior to ’19 & finishes within arms reach of ’19 NFL Draft (6.2M viewers)
???? Cleveland sets new local market recordshttps://t.co/o3MOBwTZl5 pic.twitter.com/BZKT4spZOr
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) May 4, 2021
It’s also worth noting that ESPN’s digital coverage of the annual event generated nearly nine million viewers.
All the way around, the NFL was a smashing success.
ESPN’s three-day, digital @SportsNation #NFLDraft special:
∙ Drew nearly 9M views & 58M minutes watched in real-time
∙ Views up 41% over 2019 pic.twitter.com/3l1OAksrXj— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) May 4, 2021
I’m not surprised at all. Not only did the NFL generate big TV ratings all three days, but the first round absolutely obliterated the Oscars with an average of more than 12.5 million viewers last Thursday night.
Americans love football! We just do, and the numbers represent that fact.
The TV Ratings For The NFL Draft Dominate The Oscars. The Numbers Are Humiliating For Hollywood https://t.co/mxCxlmYVSt
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 1, 2021
Now, we sit back and wait for the season to officially start in September. It’s going to be an incredibly fun year.