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The NFL is king. It's evidenced by people loving football but also massive interest in the offseason activities. Like the 2014 NFL Draft, which drew massive ratings on Thursday night.
For the first time, the NFL moved the draft to May. If you're going just on the numbers, it worked out OK.
record-setting ratings coming in for 1st round of #nfldraft. combined 8.64 prelim rating, up 50% from '13
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) May 9, 2014
NFL Network wasn't alone in seeing a massive bump: ESPN saw a 48 percent jump in their ratings, which is, frankly, even more impressive.
ESPN's 6.8 overnight rtg for #NFLDraft is +48% from Rd 1 in 2013 (4.6). Rating peaked from 945-10p ET at an 8.0.
— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) May 9, 2014
It didn't hurt, of course, that we had an exciting first round. Or that Johnny Manziel fell far in the first round, causing people to tune in. Tuning in quickly turned into "praying for a metaphorical car crash" when the Cowboys were on the clock with Manziel sitting in the green room, as evidenced by a spike in ratings around 9:45.
ESPN's 6.8 overnight rtg for #NFLDraft is +48% from Rd 1 in 2013 (4.6). Rating peaked from 945-10p ET at an 8.0.
— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) May 9, 2014
Manziel also affected the market share: Cleveland was the top market for the evening, as the Browns hauled in Manziel with the 22nd overall pick.
What makes all this even more impressive? The NFL was going up against the NBA playoffs and the NHL playoffs. And football dominated.
Overnights: ESPN NFL Draft: 6.8 ESPN2 Blazers-Spurs 2.7 ESPN2 Heat-Nets: 2.6 NFL Net NFL Draft: 1.9 NBCSN Bos-Montreal 1.2 NBCSN Ana-LA: 0.7
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) May 9, 2014
And, in case you're wondering, yes, the NFL Draft was popular on Twitter too.
More than 6.4 million global Tweets were sent with terms related to the #NFLDraft during the live telecast (8:00 pm - 12:00 am EST)
— Twitter Sports (@TwitterSports) May 9, 2014
It's not a matter of IF future drafts will be in May, but WHEN in May they'll take place.
