Shedeur Sanders Drama Fueled Draft Ratings

Last week football fans were stunned after Deion Sanders' son Shedeur slid to the fifth round in the NFL draft before getting picked up by the Cleveland Browns [click here if you missed that].

Shedeur's draft drama made for record high ratings...

From ESPN

Shedeur Sanders' drop led to record ratings for the third and final day for the NFL draft, while the average of 7.5 million viewers per day made it the second-most watched draft on record.

Saturday's telecast of Rounds 4 through 7 -- Sanders was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round -- was the most watched on record. It averaged 4.3 million viewers on ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes and digital channels. That was a 43% increase over 2024.

The total number of viewers was up 27% over last year, and the three-day total trailed only the 2020 draft.

Round 1 coverage Thursday averaged 13.6 million viewers across all channels -- an increase of 11% over 2024 and the second most-watched Day 1 on record. Rounds 2 and 3 on Friday averaged 7.5 million viewers -- up 48%.