• by Wayne Friedman , April 24, 2020

Sports-starved fans of the NFL found refuge in this year’s NFL Draft on the first day of the three-day event.

Combined viewership on four TV networks -- ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, and digital platforms -- soared 37% on the first night to 15.7 million Nielsen-measured viewers.

ESPN pulled in 7.86 million viewers, followed by ABC with 6.1 million viewers and the NFL Network at 1.72 million.

This compares with 11.4 million viewers on the first night of the 2019 NFL Draft. Viewing for the three-day period a year ago across all networks -- ESPN, ABC, The NFL Network and digital channels -- averaged  6.1 million viewers per day in TV viewership.

Disney Advertising Sales says it pulled in double-digit percentage increases in advertising revenue for this year’s event versus the event a year ago -- with 100 brands across the three-day event, including more than 60 new brands, including computers, insurance, gardening and media marketers.

Last night, results bested the 12.4 million high-water mark for the event set in 2014.