NFL Virtual Draft Broadcast Channels Fantasy Football Concepts

The NFL draft might not have all the ritz and glamor of Las Vegas, but it's going to feature some state-of-the-art technology that the league hopes will create just as much buzz for the fans and the prospects.

Partnerships with Microsoft and Amazon will allow the NFL to host its most technologically advanced draft to date, as the event goes entirely virtual this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All live footage for this year's upcoming draft will consist of broadcasts from the homes of Commissioner Roger Goodell and the 58 NFL draft prospects initially invited to attend the NFL Draft in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Those prospects have all been sent kits with the hardware and software needed to get face time during the broadcast from home. Meanwhile, Goodell will announce every pick in the first two rounds of the draft on camera from his basement.

NFL executive vice president of Club Business and League Events Peter O'Reilly stated that the comparisons of this year's draft to that of fantasy football drafts are appropriate and ones that the league is embracing.

"Many of us have done fantasy drafts in our basements, and the commissioner announcing picks in his basement harkens back to some of those moments," O'Reilly said during a conference call Friday.

"It's very different than what was still on the docket a little over a month ago with hundreds of thousands of people in Las Vegas ... so those comparisons are natural, and we embrace it overall."

Like online fantasy drafts, this year's draft will depend mainly on the technology employed to facilitate it. Come draft day, the league will rely on 32 separate channels of communication between executives from each team to coordinate their individual draft strategies.

Then one main open conference call will be used to announce each team's draft selection.

The league will hold a practice "mock draft" on Monday, April 20, to test this format and familiarize all those involved with the technology being used and will include trade processes. This technology will consist of Microsoft Teams and Amazon web services.

"Though the term 'mock draft' is being used, it's a little bit less sexy than that. It's really a communications test where everybody will be in their position, and our folks on the player personnel side will make sure the communication is strong," O'Reilly said.

"The exercise of how a trade will work in communication between clubs and with the league office will also be part of this."

Typically each team is given 10 minutes to give their draft selection when it is their turn to pick, and the league is looking to carry on that tradition in this year's draft.

If a team goes over the 10 minutes, then their pick is dropped down a spot, and the team originally set to pick behind them moves one spot up.

This year's draft will look to continue that tradition despite the unfamiliar circumstances and broader potential impact of technical difficulties while remaining flexible.

In the event of a prominent technical glitch that hinders communication between team and league executives, the league is reserving the right to pause the draft at any moment.

Picks can also be submitted by three possible executives as well as opposed to just one if only one member of a front office experiences technical difficulties.

The importance of internet connectivity has been heightened for this year's draft, making national weather forecasts a more significant point of emphasis as well.

The league has continuously monitored any potential threats that weather in any of the NFL's markets might present that might lead to local power outages.