Back in 1979, the late NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle was surprised when ESPN offered to televise the draft. Why would anybody watch, asked Rozelle. Times have changed. Now Rozelle's successors at the NFL seemingly won't be happy until there's a law that all fans must watch the NFL Draft. Or else.
On Wednesday, the NFL announced its largest TV coverage plan, one in which the 2018 event will be covered by two broadcast networks (Fox and ABC) and four cable outlets (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, NFL Network). For the first time, all seven rounds of the three-day event will air live on broadcast TV.
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Is the NFL overdoing it? Decide for yourself, but the league is betting the additional TV channels will make this the most-viewed draft ever.
Here's what you need to know about TV coverage of next month's big event, which will be held Thursday, April 26, to Saturday, April 28, at Cowboys' AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
— Want to watch NFL commissioner Roger Goodell get booed during Round 1 on April 26? (8 p.m. ET)? Pick your poison. You can tune in on five channels: NFL Network, Fox, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. Troy Aikman, Fox's lead NFL analyst, will join NFL Network's Rich Eisen and Mike Mayock at the analyst desk.
— Live coverage of Rounds 2 and 3 on April 27 (7 p.m. ET) will be shown on four networks: NFL Network, Fox, ESPN and ESPN2. Joel Klatt, Fox's lead college football analyst, and Charles Davis will join NFL Network's Peter Schrager and Chris Rose on the coverage.
— For the first time, ABC will simulcast ESPN's coverage of Rounds 4-7 on April 28 (noon ET). NFL Network will cover the later rounds, too. Fans also can also stream the action through NFL, Fox Sports and ESPN apps.
— ESPN's "College GameDay" will put its college-themed twist on the draft Thursday and Friday. Rece Davis will be joined by "GameDay" regulars Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard behind the mic.
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The addition of Fox for the first time to draft coverage underlines the deteriorating relationship between the league and ESPN, which pays more than any other network partner for TV rights: $1.9 billion a year for "Monday Night Football."
With Chris Berman at the helm for decades, ESPN coverage helped turn the league's annual offseason event into must-see TV. ESPN exclusively televised the draft from 1980 to 2006, when the league's 24/7 network added its own coverage.
But Berman is out and so is ESPN's stranglehold on the draft. Now the league has invited Fox, its new "Thursday Night Football" partner, to push its way into draft coverage as well.