Shedeur Sanders Not Getting Selected In First Round Of The NFL Draft Boosted Viewership

So, you know how everyone was expecting Shedeur Sanders to get drafted in the first round? Well, turns out he didn’t, and guess what? It ended up boosting viewership across all platforms!

Now, you might be wondering why this is such a big deal. Well, let me break it down for you. Shedeur Sanders, if you don’t already know, is the son of the great Deion Sanders. He’s got football in his blood, and everyone was hyped up to see where he would go in the draft.

But when he didn’t hear his name called in the first round, people were shocked. Social media exploded with all kinds of reactions – from disappointment to excitement to straight-up confusion. And you know what happens when people are talking about something? More people tune in to see what all the fuss is about.

According to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, Days 2 and 3 of the 2025 draft drew an average audience of 7.3 million across all platforms, which was a 40% increase over last year’s coverage.

Only the 2020 NFL Draft averaged more second and third night viewers, which isn’t shocking since most of the world was stuck inside due to the pandemic.

Lewis noted: “Outside of 2020 — an outlier year in which the draft was among the only live sportscasts for weeks — no other day two telecast reached even the six million mark.”

“Draft viewership is impacted by many factors, but nothing moves the needle quite as much as a prominent QB going later than expected,” he added.

“Back in 2014, before the sweeteners of out-of-home viewing and a broadcast network simulcast, the first round of the Draft averaged 12.37 million viewers when Johnny Manziel went from an expected top ten pick to being selected late in the first round. Yet even the draft slides of Manziel and Aaron Rodgers before him did not spill into a second — much less third — day.”

And let me tell you, the numbers don’t lie. Viewership skyrocketed across all platforms – social media engagement hit record levels, and in the end, the Cleveland Browns selected Shedeur Sanders. It was getting disappointing at a point, but it all ended well for him. Congrats to Shedeur!

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