CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Cleveland rocks for the NFL Draft.
This year's draft in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame city has gone platinum many times over.
The NFL reported Friday that Round 1 drew an average audience of 12.6 million viewers across NFL Network, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ABC and digital channels Thursday night.
It is the second-largest viewership for the opening round of an NFL Draft, trailing last year’s virtual event that drew 15.5 million viewers.
“We are so thrilled to be here, and the hospitality has been so wonderful,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday afternoon at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new athletic field at Shaw High School in East Cleveland sponsored by the Haslam and Johnson families and the Browns. “We look forward to coming back.”
Cleveland surpassed all markets for viewership by a wide margin drawing a 21.7 share. Columbus came in a distant second at 15.1.