The following is a list of broadcasters of the National Football League draft.
2020s
Notes
- 2022 saw the draft head to Las Vegas after a two-year wait. NFL Network saw no personnel changes, but ESPN and ABC took a few hits. ESPN announced that insider Adam Schefter would miss the draft to attend his son's college graduation, and Mel Kiper Jr. would participate virtually because of his COVID-19 vaccination status. Kirk Herbstreit meanwhile, announced himself that he would be dropping out of ABC's draft coverage due to blood clots.
- 2021 saw a return to normal as after a one-year hiatus, NFL Network returned to producing their own coverage of the draft. ESPN and ABC continued to carry separate feeds, one with all the "X's and O's" on ESPN, and the other with the College GameDay crew on ABC. After Wingo left ESPN in 2020, Mike Greenberg, host of Get Up!, took over as ESPN's host for the first two nights, while Davis, who continued as ABC's host, hosted ESPN's coverage of Day 3, which was also simulcast on ABC.
2010s
Notes
- 2018 was the first time ever that the draft was carried on broadcast television. As a prelude to their new Thursday Night Football contract, Fox and NFL Network simulcast the first two nights of the draft, with both nights featuring personnel from both NFL Network and Fox. ESPN continued to produce its own coverage of the draft, with ESPN2 simulcasting days 1 and 2, and ABC simulcasting day 3. NFL Network's main set featured the crew of host Rich Eisen, Daniel Jeremiah, draft expert Mike Mayock, and Stanford head coach David Shaw, with Steve Mariucci, Steve Smith Sr., and Fox NFL lead analyst Troy Aikman joining from an outside set for day 1. Other analysts included: Fox College Football lead analyst Joel Klatt, Charles Davis, and Deion Sanders.
- The Fox/NFL Network simulcast would only last one year, as ABC picked up the broadcast television rights for all 3 days of the draft in 2019. ABC's coverage would have the College GameDay crew on days 1 and 2, with Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts, joined by 2018 NFL MVP and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift, co-hosting with GameDay host Rece Davis on day 1. Also, on day 1, Swift announced her new single "ME!", featuring Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie, being released at midnight ET, with the music video debuting on YouTube at the same time. Day 3 featured the ESPN crew of Trey Wingo, NFL insiders Louis Riddick, and draft experts Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr., hosting ABC's coverage, which was a simulcast of ESPN's coverage.
- In 2010, the NFL moved to a three-day draft with the first day encompassing the first round beginning at 8:00 pm EDT Thursday, the second day encompassing the second and third rounds beginning at 7:00 pm EDT Friday, and third day concluding the process with the final four rounds beginning at 11:00 am EDT Saturday.
2000s
Notes
- In 2006, ESPN received competition when the NFL Network, which had launched in October 2003, began to produce its own draft coverage. ESPN pays the NFL a rights fee for the non-exclusive rights to draft coverage, a fee that is included in its overall contract to televise games (ESPN Sunday Night NFL from 1987 to 2005, and Monday Night Football from 2006 to the present).
1990s
1980s
Notes
- In 1980, Chet Simmons, president of the year-old ESPN, asked Pete Rozelle if the fledgling network could broadcast coverage of the draft live on ESPN. Although Rozelle did not believe it would be entertaining television, he agreed. In 1988, the NFL moved the draft from weekdays to the weekend and ESPN's ratings of the coverage improved dramatically.
References
External links