Weekend Rap

The NFL Draft in Green Bay drew a three-day attendance of 600,000, “shattering the pre-draft estimate of 250,000” and equaling Nashville in 2019. Last year’s 775,000 in Detroit is the record for draft attendance. For comparison, the Detroit metro area population is 4.3 million, Nashville is 2 million and Green Bay 320,000. Saturday’s attendance of 220,000 was 15,000 more than Thursday. Packers Dir/Public Affairs Aaron Popkey said, “Thursday night definitely set the stage. The energy was incredible. That provided some momentum for Friday and Saturday.” Packers President & CEO Mark Murphy said that the NFL was “pleased and surprised at the turnout, about 90% of which were probably Packers fans.” With at least 175,000 people on site each day, “friction was at a minimum.” Police reported only one arrest over the three days of the draft (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 4/26).

The draft “sure seemed like a home run for Green Bay and for the fans at the draft.” The “sheer volume of infrastructure was a sight to behold.” The temporary measures “makes you realize this isn’t the league’s first rodeo.” It “knows how to build quickly and staff properly.” But in general, the draft “was a lot of fun, and it felt like an unforgettable moment for all the right reasons” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/26). The weather in Green Bay “mostly cooperated for football fans who came from all over the world to be part of the draft” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/26).

The first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday averaged 13.6 million viewers across television and digital platforms, according to the league and Nielsen. It was the “second-most watched first round on record.” It is an “11% increase over last year,” which averaged 12.3 million. The first-round record remains 15.5 million in 2020. The draft was televised on ESPN, NFL Network, ABC and ESPN Deportes as well as being available online (AP, 4/25).

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants the league to shorten the first round. Goodell appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday said, “I’m making it up, [but] seven minutes first round, but you can get two minutes extra. If you need it, you can call it, but then you don’t get it again the rest of the draft … you get one extension” (AWFUL ANNOUNCING, 4/25). The first round on Thursday ran nearly four hours, from 8pm to 11:43, when the Chiefs made the 32nd pick (N.Y. POST, 4/26).

The Browns selected QB Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round of the NFL Draft, and GM Andrew Berry admitted that he “didn’t expect Sanders ‘to be available in the fifth round.’” Berry: “We felt like it got to a point where he was probably mis-priced relative to the draft. The acquisition cost was pretty light. It’s a guy that we think can outproduce his draft slot. So, I wouldn’t say it’s any more than that.” On owner Jimmy Haslam’s role in the decision to draft Sanders, Berry said, “Jimmy lets us do our jobs.” During his post-draft interview, Sanders “was gracious.” Sanders said, “My main thing, I’m going to prove Coach (Kevin) Stefanski and Mr. Berry that they are right. That I’m a good pick” (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 4/27).

Fans are “skeptical about the team’s enthusiasm for the player based on the reactions of Browns leadership after the selection” of Sanders. ESPN footage of Stefanski and Berry “showed light golf claps with blank facial expressions in the team’s war room after the pick.” Berry “slouched with a half frown” (FOXNEWS.com, 4/26).

THE ATHLETIC’s Jason Lloyd wrote “say what you want about the Browns, but they are not scared off by big personalities and potential distractions -- at least their owner isn’t.” Meanwhile, it is up to the fans to “decide if this is the look of two men who believe they just found their franchise quarterback … or two victims held hostage by an overzealous owner” (THE ATHLETIC, 4/26).

There was “tension building on the ESPN set” in Green Bay during the NFL Draft as QB Shedeur Sanders slid to the fifth round, as analyst Mel Kiper Jr. “couldn’t hide his ‘disgust.’” This led to sparring between Kiper and fellow analyst Louis Riddick on Saturday.

Riddick: “This is not about, ‘Can you play the position?’ This is about, ‘Do we want you to play the position for us?’”

Kiper: “Why wouldn’t they?”

Riddick: “That’s a whole (different) discussion that we’ve had in many different ways for weeks and months now.”

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QB Shedeur Sanders received a prank call during the second round of the NFL Draft on Friday. The call was filmed by Well Off Media, the YouTube channel run by Sanders’ older brother, Deion Sanders Jr. Here’s the back and forth:

Caller: “This is Mickey Loomis here, (GM) of the Saints. It’s been a long wait, man. We’re gonna take you with our next pick right here, man.”

Sanders: “Yes sir, let’s be legendary.”

Caller: “But you’re gonna have to wait a little bit longer, man. Sorry about that,” before hanging up.

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After representing the second-highest number of first-round picks of the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, Athletes First represented the most selections of the second round with eight picks. CAA Sports, which had the most first-round picks this year with seven, finished second in round two with three selections. Klutch Sports Group, Priority Sports, Rosenhaus Sports, WME Sports and Wasserman all tied for third with two selections each. Representing one selection each were: Clarity Sports International, Equity Sports, Exclusive Sports Group, GSE Worldwide, Milk & Honey Sports, Plan B Sports Management and SportsTrust Advisors.

UFC President & CEO Dana White said that the sold-out UFC Fight Night event in K.C. on Saturday drew 15,984 attendees, and the gate for the event was a “T-Mobile Center record for a sporting event” $2.2M. White said, “I think that Kansas City got spoiled tonight. This card was so good, every fight was incredible, mostly finishes. Kansas City is an awesome city. The people here are great; I really like this town. The energy in that place was awesome all night.” Fans saw 14 total fights over six hours at T-Mobile Center (K.C. STAR, 4/27). Royals C Salvador Perez and 1B Vinnie Pasquantino attended the event, and they “both received loud ovations when they were shown sitting together” (K.C. STAR, 4/27).

WWE on Monday will “cap off a five-day takeover of T-Mobile Center.” TKO Group Holdings will present the Monday Night Raw event after doing the same for the PBR’s Teams Event on Thursday (K.C. STAR, 4/25).

The Savannah Bananas brought their “traveling circus known as Banana Ball” to Clemson’s Memorial Stadium on Saturday and “thoroughly entertained” the sellout crowd of 81,000. The stadium was “transformed to a baseball field just for the Bananas.” Tickets “sold out months ago in just three hours,” and parking lots were “full of tailgaters early in the afternoon” for a 7pm ET start. When the gates opened at 4:30pm, people were “lined up by the thousands to watch all of the pregame festivities.” Clemson AD Graham Neff was in attendance as the Bananas “paid tribute to Clemson throughout the show,” including “videos of Clemson football highlights.” After the game, and before an “impressive firework display,” Bananas owner Jesse Cole “thanked the crowd.” He said, “You just made our dreams come true” (GREENVILLE NEWS, 4/26). Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney led the Bananas down the hill at Memorial Stadium (X, 4/26).

Fanatics on Friday held a grand opening for the Fanatics Collectibles London flagship store on Regent Street, with over 2,000 people “wrapped around the entire block” by noon. F1 driver Lewis Hamilton “cut the ribbon” with Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin before “opening a box of store-exclusive F1 trading cards” that retails for $566. It was a “scene reminiscent of when Apple opened the doors to their first store outside of America” in 2004. Rubin said, “We don’t even have a store like this in America. This is our first store in the world we decided to open here in London.” Fanatics’ challenge is “converting a nation where collectibles has only reached the mainstream through sticker book collections for the Premier League, UEFA, and FIFA competitions since the 1970s.” Fanatics hopes its “biggest pull to convert British sports fans to the hobby will be their Premier League trading card and sticker rights,” which begins on June 1. European-headquartered Panini had been the rights holder for the past six years (THE ATHLETIC, 4/26).

Wrexham defeated Charlton Athletic 3-0 on Saturday to secure an “historic third successive promotion,” claiming a place in the EFL Championship. Club co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney -- who bought the club for $2.5M in 2021 and “turned it into a household name around the world” -- were part of a full house of nearly 13,000 fans “packed into the club’s historic stadium to celebrate.” Reynolds said, “Our goal is to make it to the Premier League” (ESPN.com, 4/26).

Reynolds pulled “pints in The Turf, the pub adjoining The Racecourse which has become a much requested stop on the North Wales tourist trail since its rise to fame” in the “Welcome to Wrexham” docuseries. No club in English soccer has “undergone a greater, or better documented, transformation than Wrexham.” The docuseries has made “global celebrities out of the club” (London TIMES, 4/26).

ESPN.com’s Mark Ogden wrote under the header, “Wrexham promotion is a miracle. The next will be even harder.” Wrexham’s average attendance of 12,757 during their 2024-25 League One campaign would be the “third-smallest in the Championship this season.” Those numbers alone “point to the club taking a leap into the big leagues next year, facing rivals who have much greater earning potential through the turnstiles” (ESPN.com, 4/26).

The College Football Playoff’s kickoff time adjustment will have the 2026 Rose Bowl kick off at 4pm ET (1pm PT), which will be the “earliest kickoff time in the bowl game’s California history.” The sunset over the San Gabriel Mountains “will likely come during the game’s final minutes rather than early in the fourth quarter.” The Orange Bowl “will open the day” at noon ET, followed by the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl at 8pm, “moved up from its traditional kick time” of 8:45pm. The Cotton Bowl will kick off at 7:30pm ET on Dec. 31. The kickoff change is “expected to be a permanent one” (THE ATHLETIC, 4/22). Moving the Rose Bowl’s kickoff “ensures the Sugar will start at a reasonable hour but means sunset over the mountains won’t begin until late in the fourth quarter” (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 4/26).

Former Marlins Chief Commercial Officer David Oxfeld announced Friday on LinkedIn that his 7.5-year tenure with the organization came to an end in mid-March. Oxfeld wrote that during his tenure the Marlins grew their sponsorship business over 130%, while also securing ballpark naming rights (loanDepot) and a multiyear jersey patch deal (ADT). They also held the 2023 World Baseball Classic and the 2024 Caribbean Series, while also securing the 2026 Winter Classic. The Marlins are not replacing Oxfeld’s role.

The organization hired SVP/Ticket Sales & Service Ryan Davenport in December and VP/Ticket Sales & Service Nate Medrano in March to handle the ticketing side of the business. VP and Head of Partnership Development & Strategy Rob Gelman is running point partnerships. The Marlins also consistently lean on their relationship with OVG for partnerships.

Oxfeld plans to share his next endeavor shortly.

Longtime MLB exec Walt Jocketty died overnight Friday into Saturday in Arizona at 74 after a “lengthy battle with health issues that included a year of hospitalization.” A “shrewd roster architect and ambitious tradesman,” Jocketty’s “pursuit of star players jolted the Cardinals’ franchise out of its doldrums and launched it into a new era of success.” When Jocketty joined the Cardinals, he was “pulled out of the expansion Colorado Rockies’ front office and toting a resume that included a minor-league leadership role for the great Oakland teams of the 1980s.” He “acknowledged in his introductory press conference that he was ‘not flashy or the outgoing, flamboyant type.’” Jocketty hired HOF manager Tony La Russa and traded for former MLBer Mark McGwire (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 4/26).

Jocketty was “one of the most respected front office figures in baseball for decades.” The Rockies “planned a moment of silence” before Saturday’s game against the Reds. Jocketty was also the Reds’ President of Baseball Operations from 2008-2016 and served as an executive advisor to the owner since (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 4/26). The Cardinals “held a moment of silence” for Jocketty on Saturday before their game against the Brewers (AP, 4/26).