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.
🚨2025 NFL Draft Viewership🚨
2nd most-watched NFL Draft ever!
7.5 million avg. viewers across @ESPNNFL, @nflnetwork, ABC & digital channels — up +27% vs. 2024
Most-watched Day 3 on record!
Release: https://t.co/zANf9EV9ah pic.twitter.com/OPifrJg0iQ
— NFL Media (@NFLMedia) April 29, 2025
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.
