The NFL Draft is is headed to primetime
Two years after tinkering with the draft format Roger Goodell is at it again. Goodell notified teams that the draft will be spread out over three days instead of two.
The first round will be held on Thursday in primetime at 7:30 p.m. The second on tthird rounds will follow on Friday on Friday night starting at 6:30p.m. The draft will conclude on Saturday with rounds four through seven which is slated to start at 10:00 a.m.
The draft had been on Saturday and Sunday since 1995.
Recently the draft has become bigger and bigger and last year 39 million people watched. The draft has now become the marquee event on the NFL off-season.
Also the internet has blown up with draft talk. There are now tons of websites dedicated solely to the NFL Draft and update all year round. Everyone is trying to become the next Mel Kiper who ESPN has turned into a star.
While some of the hardcore draft fans may not support the move the change to primetime was inevitable. The number of casual fans that have been watching the first round of the draft has skyrocketed recently and the move to primetime will bring in even more viewers.
Personally I’m a fan of the decision. I was never a big fan of the draft on Saturday and Sunday. I love the draft and follow it a good amount but a couple of times I had something to do on Saturday and missed part of the draft. Now if I have to do something on a Saturday I only miss the latter rounds instead of the opening rounds.
The new move should also increase the amount of trading that occurs. Teams can now reshuffle their boards after round one and have a whole day to talk to teams to talk trades. This should add some more intrigue and excitement to the draft.
While some may not agree with the move in the end players still get drafted and the NFL stays the same. But now we have an extra day of draft goodness.
The 2010 NFL Draft is scheduled to run from April 24th to April 26th.
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