2025 NFL Draft delivers smash TV ratings, second most-watched in event’s history

The 2025 NFL Draft was a ratings smash for Disney and the NFL Network.

The draft, which took place from Thursday through Saturday, aired across the NFL Network and multiple Disney platforms, including ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared numbers showing that the 2025 NFL Draft delivered the second best viewership numbers in the event’s history.

The 2025 NFL Draft brought in an average audience of 7.5 million viewers, up from 27% from last year. The number is the highest since 2020 when many people were confined to their homes during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event registered the best Day 3 on record with 4.3 million average viewers. The availability of Shedeur Sanders is likely to credit for increased Day 3 viewership. Sanders had first-round projections, but fell all the way to Round 5.

The draft is also counting a total attendance of more than 600,000 over 3 days.

The 2025 NFL 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 Draft on record behind only 2020 and up +27% versus last… pic.twitter.com/DNwvaYljeH

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 29, 2025

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.