Advertiser demand for the NFL Draft remains strong again this year, with ESPN and Disney setting record ad unit rates. Across 53 categories, more than half of advertisers grew their Draft budgets since last year. During all of NFL Draft Week, Disney/ESPN has 135 total sponsorships across 30 advertisers -- including nine new brands -- airing during Draft coverage. There will be around 80 live sponsorship executions on the three days of coverage across ESPN, ABC, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes. Leading up to the Draft, there have been more than 50 surround sponsorship executions.
The NFL heads into Thursday night’s first round of the Draft coming off its second-best figure on record in 2025, as ESPN, ABC and NFL Network averaged 13.6 million viewers. Last year had some drama as QB Shedeur Sanders slipped completely out of the first two days of the NFL Draft after being projected as a first-round pick. The high mark for the first round remains the COVID telecast of 2020 with 15.5 million viewers.
Being the host city has also meant a boost in local ratings for that media market, per new data from Nielsen, usually to the tune of double-digit year-over-year growth. And Las Vegas is also likely to see a big surge having the No. 1 pick, with Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza expected to go there. Over the last three years, the local markets that had a team drafting a franchise QB at No. 1 saw a sharp ratings increase on ABC vs. the year prior.
