2021 NFL draft 3rd-most watched ever with 6.1M viewers

Mark Lane
·2 min read

While the Houston Texans may have had a paltry draft with just five players selected, the NFL had one of its better three-day weekends in a while.

According to NFL Media, the 2021 NFL draft drew in an average audience of 6.1 million viewers, including TV and digital, across ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, and digital channels from April 29 to May 1.

NFL Media says it is the third-most watched draft ever. The most-watched draft is the 2020 draft at 8.3 million, and the second-most watched is the 2019 draft with 6.2 million.

Cleveland, the host city, averaged a 10.9 HH rating for the NFL draft, which is the highest-rated local market for 2021 and the highest host city draft rating on record since Chicago began hosting the draft in 2015.

On digital platforms, the 2021 NFL draft delivered an AMA of 261,000 across NFL O&O, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ABC platforms, which is up 36% compared to 2019, which had 192,000.

In addition to the high draft numbers, the second annual virtual Draft-a-Thon live fundraiser had an average daily reach of five million devices and 17 million total views across NFL O&O, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Yahoo, Reddit, Twitch, and AVOD platforms.

The livestream coverage of the draft went out on five platforms with YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, the ESPN App, and TikTok, which was the first year for the platform. The streams logged 8.9 million total views and 57.7 minutes of watch time. The views were also up 41% from 2019.

NFL Media says that the most balanced viewership comparison for the 2021 draft is the 2019 draft due to how unique the 2020 draft was in presentation and circumstance.