Photo by Ryan Real/ Forbes
The first-round of the 2019 NFL draft took place in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday night. As always, the hype building up to the big day was enormous, and didn’t disappoint. The electricity in Nashville was every bit of exceptional from the host city.
According to Ben Strauss of the Washington Post, this years draft was the “most watched draft in NFL history”. The draft was televised on three different networks, ESPN, NFL Network, and ABC. Having it in Nashville for the first time, and in such a great market for this type of event definitely pulled some weight for the viewing of the event.
it's the highest-rated and most-watched draft, which makes sense given the reach of ABC
— Ben Strauss (@benjstrauss) April 29, 2019
Rating were up 5% from last years draft, which was hosted in Arlington, Texas. The NFL is thriving and attracting more eyeballs than ever before, which is a positive note, since just two seasons ago the viewership was down in terms of the amount of people consuming NFL games.
“Dramatic and emotional storylines played out in cities across the country with the energetic host city of Nashville serving as a breathtaking backdrop to hundreds of thousands of passionate fans who lined the streets and enjoyed a unique NFL Draft Experience,” said commissioner Roger Goodell.
Next year’s draft is heading to Las Vegas, Nevada, where the Raiders are in the process of building their new 62 acre stadium lot. Las Vegas has never been a host for the NFL Draft, or even had their own football team, so the 2020 draft will kickoff the start of a new era for the Las Vegas Raiders.
NFL draft first-round results:
- Arizona Cardinals- (QB) Kyler Murray
- San Francisco 49ers- (DE) Nick Bosa
- New York Jets- (DT) Quinnen Williams
- Oakland Raiders- (DE) Clelin Ferrell
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers- (LB) Devin White
- New York Giants- (QB) Daniel Jones
- Jacksonville Jaquars- (DE) Josh Allen
- Detroit Lions- (TE) T.J. Hockenson
- Buffalo Bills- (DT) Ed Oliver
- Pittsburg Steelers- (LB) Devin Bush
- Cincinnati Bengals- (OT) Jonah Williams
- Green Bay Packers- (DE) Rashan Gary
- Miami Dolphins- (DT) Christian Wilkins
- Atlanta Falcons- (OG) Christopher Lindstrom
- Washington Redskins- (QB) Dwayne Haskins
- Carolina Panthers- (DE) Brian Burns
- New York Giants- (DT) Dexter Lawrence
- Minnesota Vikings- (C) Garrett Bradbury
- Tennessee Titans- (DT) Jeffery Simmons
- Denver Broncos- (TE) Noah Fant
- Green Bay Packers- (S) Darnell Savage
- Philadelphia Eagles- (OT) Andre Dillard
- Houston Texans- (OT) Tytus Howard
- Oakland Raiders- (RB) Josh Jacobs
- Baltimore Ravens- (WR) Marquise Brown
- Washington Redskins- (DE) Montez Sweat
- Oakland Raiders- (S) Jonathan Abram
- Los Angeles Chargers- (DT) Jerry Tillery
- Seattle Seahawks- (DE) L.J. Collier
- New York Giants- (CB) Deandre Baker
- Atlanta Falcons- (OT) Kaleb Mcgary
- New England Patriots- (WR) N’Keal Harry
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