NFL Draft sets viewership records with Shedeur Sanders’ slide driving historic Day 3 interest

THE 2025 NFL Draft has earned viewership records, and Shedeur Sanders’ slide played a massive role in the interest.

Sanders, once thought of as a first-round pick, fell to the Cleveland Browns with the No. 144 selection last weekend in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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Sanders wasn’t picked on Days 1 and 2 as the possibilities of where he’d end up in the NFL extended to Day 3.

As a result, the NFL would set a Day 3 viewership record.

The league revealed in a press release that Day 3’s draft coverage, which was Rounds 4-7, averaged a record 4.3 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, and ESPN Deportes on Saturday.

The viewership increased 43 percent compared to last year’s late-round coverage.

The 2025 NFL Draft averaged 7.5 million viewers across ESPN’s platforms and NFL Network.

That figure is up 27 percent versus last year’s coverage.

This year’s NFL Draft was the second-most-watched ever, behind the 2020 edition, which was one of the first sports-related events that took place in the early days of the COVID pandemic.

The fall of Sanders’ helped the viewership remain strong on Day 3.

The first-round viewership was up 11 percent, but Days 2 and 3 saw increases of 48 and 43 percent, respectively.

Sanders didn’t hear his name on Day 2 as Rounds 2 and 3 went by.

Finally, on Day 3, the son of Deion Sanders got the call from the Browns, who traded up with the Seattle Seahawks to select him.

It was revealed by Sports Media Watch’s Jon Lewis that NFL Network’s viewership increased by 52 percent year-over-year.

As for ESPN, the network got a 22 percent bump.

NFL Network had its most-watched draft since 2017.

ESPN, meanwhile, received its most-watched draft since 2020.

This year’s NFL Draft also got incredible attendance numbers.

During the three days, more than 600,000 fans attended the festivities in Green Bay.

The mark matched Nashville’s record in 2019 for the second-highest attendance in Draft history.