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NFL draft first round averages 13.2 million viewers on television and digital platforms

NEW YORK (AP) — The first round of the NFL draft averaged 13.2 million viewers across television and digital platforms, according to the league and Nielsen.

It was the third-most watched first round on record, behind 2020’s audience of 15.5 million and last year’s 13.6 million.

The draft was televised on ESPN, NFL Network, ABC and ESPN Deportes as well as streaming on the ESPN app, Disney+, Hulu, NFL+ and YouTube.

The league also said there was record attendance of 805,000 in Pittsburgh across the three days of the draft, including a record 320,000 for Thursday’s first round.

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Big Ten takes the top spot for first-rounders, while SEC sets record for total players drafted

The SEC's reign as the king of the first round of the NFL draft was toppled by the Big Ten. But the conference that coined the mantra “It Just Means More” for its dominance of college football in the 2010s remained in the top spot for the entire draft after the SEC set a record for the number of players picked over the three days. Thanks to recent national champions Indiana and Ohio State, the Big Ten led the way with 10 first-round picks, marking the first time the SEC didn't have the most players taken in round one since 2015. The SEC had only seven — down from a record 15 last year — and the lowest total for the conference since that 2015 season when the ACC and Pac-12 led the way with nine first-rounders each and the SEC had seven. The first player drafted from an SEC school came when LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane went sixth overall to Kansas City, marking the first draft without a top five SEC player since 2018 when Roquan Smith was the first taken at No. 8 overall by the Bears.
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