The 2020 NFL Draft blew away its predecessors as the most-watched selection show in its history. With no real competition from any other live sports action and many viewers confined to their homes via quarantine, it seems everyone turned to the draft to get a taste of actual sports.
The state of Ohio certainly did. The two markets with the highest ratings for the draft were Columbus and Cleveland. Cincinnati came in fifth. With Columbus roughly split between Browns and Bengals fans, it makes sense Ohio’s capital pulled the highest rating.
ESPN proudly boasted of the record ratings in a press release,
The unique presentation of the 2020 NFL Draft established new all-time highs for media consumption in every category. With over 600 camera feeds from homes across the United States, all telecasts of the 2020 NFL Draft reached more than 55 million total viewers across Nielsen-measured channels over the three-day event, up +16% vs. 2019. An average audience of over 8.4 million viewers watched all three days of the 2020 NFL Draft across ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, and digital channels easily breaking the previous high of 6.2 million viewers in 2019 (+35%).
