100 Brands Buy NFL Draft Spots on ABC and ESPN

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With live games canceled, the NFL Draft has been a focus of sports fans suffering because of the coronavirus pandemic and more than 100 advertisers have bought spots on ABC’s and ESPN’s coverage of the football talent bazaar to reach them.

The sponsors include Verizon, sponsor of a Prospect Cam, Pizza Hut, sponsor of the Draft Moment and Bud Light Seltzer, sponsor of the Virtual Huddle.

Sixty of the brands are new to the NFL Draft, according to Disney Advertising Sales, which is projecting a double digit year-over-year increase in revenue.

The first three rounds will take place Thursday and Friday on ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network. ABC’s coverage will be distinct presentations, focusing on the personalities and back stories of the drafted players. Rounds four through seven will be simulcast by all three networks.

The draft had been scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, but COVID-19 forced the mighty NFL to take the event virtual. 

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.