DIS Walt Disney Co

By Joe Flint 

The first night of the National Football League's annual draft Thursday night drew a record average audience of 15.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Traditionally a festive event, this year's draft was an online affair because of the coronavirus. Plans to host the draft from Las Vegas were scrapped, and instead NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ran the show from the basement of his Bronxville, N.Y. home.

Future NFL players -- who normally would have put on their flashiest suit and paraded across a big stage to hug Mr. Goodell after being selected -- stayed home as well. The NFL mailed video equipment to nearly 60 college athletes to broadcast live from their homes if they were selected.

The NFL had a near-perfect record in guessing who would be a first-round selection. Only one out of 32 players picked in the first round -- Las Vegas Raiders pick Damon Arnette, a cornerback from Ohio State who was the No. 19 selection -- wasn't sent equipment to record himself.

Ratings for the draft have been rising steadily over the past several years, although the previous record audience for round one of the draft was 12.4 million in 2014. Given that sports have been sidelined because of the virus, hunger for anything fresh is high.

Coverage of the draft was scattered across four channels: Walt Disney Co.'s ABC, ESPN and ESPN Deportes, as well as the league-owned NFL Network.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 24, 2020 17:58 ET (21:58 GMT)

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