Sports is Back This Week, Baby! Well, At Least the NFL Draft

by Ray Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

April 20, 2020

Thank you, NFL and The Walt Disney Company, from the bottom of this sports-starved fan’s heart. Despite the challenges of the coronavirus and partial shutdown of our economy, the NFL Draft 2020 will proceed this week – from Thursday, April 23, to Saturday, April 25.

And Disney is working with the NFL to bring all seven rounds to fans via the NFL Network, and on Disney’s ABC and ESPN networks. Yes!

This is the second year in a row that Disney and the NFL are working together to present the draft. Specifically, ESPN and the NFL Network will present the same telecast of the draft. ABC will offer an additional, unique, prime-time telecast of rounds 1-3, and then also simulcast the ESPN/NFL Network feed for rounds 4-7. 

Here are the NFL 2020 Draft times:

• Thursday night, April 23, 8:00-11:30 PM EST: Round 1 on ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN Radio.

• Friday night, April 24, 7:00-11:30 PM EST: Rounds 2 and 3 on ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN Radio.

• Saturday, April 25, 12:00-7:00 PM EST: Rounds 4 to 7 on ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN Radio.

In addition, the draft will be streamed live via the NFL app, NFL.com, the ESPN app, ESPN.com, and ABC.go.com.

The NFL Draft 2020 will salute health care workers and first responders, including a fundraising effort – a “Draft-A-Thon” – to support six national nonprofits battling the coronavirus and providing relief. 

In a statement, Seth Markman, ESPN vice president of production, was quoted, “We recognize the challenging times we are living in, but we are looking forward to presenting the 2020 NFL Draft and providing some hope for football fans everywhere. For the past couple of years, ESPN’s NFL and college teams have worked together on our draft coverage, and it has been a win for our viewers. This year, we are further excited to collaborate with the NFL Network creating an All Star broadcast. We are also committed to producing the ESPN/NFL Network and ABC shows in the safest possible environment for our announcers and production teams.”

Yes, over the years, I’ve spent some time watching the NFL Draft. Some saw it as being a bit too football nerdy. This year, I think I speak for millions of sports nerds in saying: I’ve never been so excited about the arrival of the NFL Draft.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution (now available at a deep discount) and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.