The right to televise the NFL draft is up for bid. One new contender is out, and another remains in.
Via Michael McCarthy of FrontOfficeSports.com, Netflix won’t bid on the event. Fox, however, hopes to land it.
Currently, the bidders are Fox, ESPN, and Google. Per the report, the NFL is expected to add a global streaming partner to its draft-rights portfolio.
The new draft TV deal becomes effective in 2026. The NFL has set no timeline for making a decision.
In 2018, Fox televised the event alongside ESPN and NFL Network. ABC assumed the three-letter-network presence as of 2019.
In the past, there has been talk of the NFL hoping to have election-night-style coverage of the draft, with every major network covering the first round.
Last year, the first round generated an average viewership of 12.1 million on all platforms: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ABC, ESPN Deportes, and digital platforms. While that number would be disappointing for any given primetime game, it’s an amazing number for what essentially is the ultimate reality show about nothing.
The draft is a major event, which travels from town to town. It could be done by group text.
With or without reporters accidentally added to the thread.
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