Shedeur Sanders's Slide Led to Major Ratings Increase for Third Day of NFL Draft

Intrigue remained until the fifth round.

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders looks on during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets in the second quarter at the American Airlines Center. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Shedeur Sanders saga was still unresolved entering the NFL draft's third day and the intrigue yielded a massive ratings bump for the made-for-television event. Per Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, Saturday's coverage averaged 4.3 million viewers across all platforms, a 43% percent jump over last year's final day.

This was the continuation of ratings increases on Thursday (up 11%) and Friday (up 48%), which combined helped the 2025 NFL draft in Green Bay far outpace its 2024 predecessor from Detroit.

None of this should be a surprise at all as Sanders, one of the most controversial and discussed prospects in many years, found himself in a virtually unprecedented free-fall that dominated the broadcast. It's hard to imagine the draft being able to match this edition's enormous ratings unless something else bizarre occurs to a marquee name. And even then, odds are that the player in question will not serve as nearly the lightning rod Sanders has become.

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