ESPN’s Most-Viewed NFL Draft Since 2014

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ESPN’s Most-Viewed NFL Draft Since 2014

Total Live Audience (TV + Streaming) Average of 3,178,000 Viewers for Three-Day Telecast
ESPN’s Most-Streamed NFL Draft Ever

Photos via ESPN Images

ESPN’s three-day presentation of the 2017 NFL Draft (Rounds 1-7) delivered a total live audience of 3,178,000 viewers, making it ESPN’s most-viewed draft since 2014 and the third most-viewed since the new primetime format was introduced in 2010. It was also ESPN’s most-streamed NFL Draft ever with substantial growth in digital usage throughout the three days, providing nearly a four percent lift on top of the television audience.

On television (ESPN and ESPN2), the draft telecast averaged 3,063,000 viewers over the nearly 15.5 hours – an increase from 2016 (3,020,000 viewers).

For the second straight year, Cleveland was the highest-rated market for ESPN’s NFL Draft, averaging a 5.4 local rating across all rounds. Host city Philadelphia and Dayton tied as the second highest-rated markets with a 4.1 rating. The other top-10 metered markets included: Columbus (4.0), Greenville, S.C. (3.7), New Orleans and Knoxville (3.6), Milwaukee (3.5) and Nashville, Birmingham, Ala., and Jacksonville (3.4).

ESPN live streaming attracted an average minute audience of 114,000 viewers (up 31 percent from 2016), 971,000 unique viewers each day (up 123 percent) and 35,100,000 minutes streamed daily (up 35 percent).  Additionally, non-streaming digital usage (NFL content on ESPN.com and the ESPN app) drew an average minute audience of 705,000, a 78 percent gain from 2016.

Round 1:
ESPN delivered a total live audience of 6,924,000 viewers on Thursday night for Round 1. Including streaming, this ranks as the fourth most-viewed Round 1 telecast on ESPN since the new primetime format began in 2010, and a seven percent increase over ESPN’s audience for Round 1 in 2016 (6,487,000). The NFL Draft on ESPN was the highest-rated telecast on Thursday night among all the key male demos (18-34, 18-49, 25-54), as well as adults 18-34 and 18-49. Additionally, the telecast helped ESPN win the night among all networks in households, viewers and all key male and adult demos. Release.

  • ESPN’s live coverage of Round 1 of the NFL Draft was the most engaging programming on social media, with 12 million social interactions on Twitter and Facebook from 4.8 million unique social media accounts (Nielsen Social Content Ratings).

Rounds 2-3:
ESPN delivered a total live audience of 2,324,000 viewers for Rounds 2-3 on Friday night. ESPN live streaming attracted an average minute audience of 88,000 viewers (up 31 percent from 2016), 926,000 total unique viewers (up 137 percent) and 25,019,000 total minutes (up 42 percent). Based on all three metrics, this is the most-streamed Rounds 2-3 on record for ESPN.

  • On TV (ESPN and ESPN2), the draft telecast averaged a 1.4 household rating and 2,236,000 viewers. On ESPN (7-8 p.m. ET), the draft telecast averaged a 1.6 household rating and 2,332,000 viewers. On ESPN2 (8-11:45 p.m. ET), the draft telecast averaged a 1.4 household rating and 2,210,000 viewers.
  • Non-streaming digital usage (NFL content on ESPN.com and the ESPN app) drew an average minute audience of 801,000, a 76 percent gain from 2016.

Rounds 4-7:
ESPN delivered a total live audience of 1,671,000 viewers on Saturday for Rounds 4-7. ESPN live streaming attracted an average minute audience of 61,000 viewers (up 56 percent from 2016), 686,000 total unique viewers (up 169 percent) and 24,955,000 total minutes (up 56 percent). Based on all three metrics, this is the most-streamed Rounds 4-7 on record for ESPN.

  • On TV, the draft telecast averaged a 1.1 household rating and 1,610,000 viewers.
  • Non-streaming digital usage (NFL content on ESPN.com and the ESPN app) drew an average minute audience of 462,000, which is up 68 percent from 2016.

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Allie Stoneberg

I advance ESPN’s communications and publicity efforts for NFL studio programming, Monday Night Football, the NFL Draft and our coverage of the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League. I enjoy meeting journalists in person at games and events and delight in showing them around our Bristol, Conn., campus.
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