NFL Draft to Span 3 Days in 2010

[Chewie]

Being the draftnik traditionalist that I am, this news rocked my world :

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1978068/2010_nfl_draft_schedule_released_will.html

The NFL Has Expanded the 2010 NFL Draft to Three Days, All Beginning on April 22, 2010

The 2010 NFL Draft schedule has an interesting anecdote. The 2010 NFL Draft schedule will now include a third day of drafting, extending the 2010 NFL Draft by a full extra day. The decision to extend the 2010 NFL Draft to a third day is a move to keep people more interested in the draft itself, and to spread out the excitement of the NFL Draft to an extra day. The move to change the 2010 NFL Draft schedule is expected to draw in even more viewers of the most anticipated sports draft, but it should be interesting to see if it is able to draw in the audiences that the NFL is hoping to get.

The 2010 NFL Draft schedule outlines that the first day of the 2010 NFL Draft will begin on April 22nd, 2010. Round one of the 2010 NFL Draft gets started at 4:30 P.M. PST on Thursday, April 22nd. This will be the only round that is shown during the day, as the NFL will push all the remaining rounds on to the second and third days of the draft. The second and third rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft will be on Friday, April 23rd, with everything getting started at 3:30 P.M. PST. It's an early start time if the NFL expects people on the west coast to watch it, but then again, with a 3:30 P.M. start time, they probably don't expect any workers to get off in time.

The 2010 NFL Draft continues with rounds four through seven being aired on Saturday, April 24th, starting at 7 A.M. PST. Yes, again, that is 7:00 A.M. in the morning when fans of the west coast teams are expected to roll out of bed to catch who their favorite franchise has picked up. This will once again give a lot of credence to the thought that there may be an east coast bias in sports, but that is what the NFL decided would be best for their fans and teams. It could be suggested that they would receive even better ratings if they decided to host the 2010 NFL Draft during a time where all fans would be able to actually watch the later rounds in primetime.

Looks like we're left out of the Day 1 fun altogether in 2010....

[WEFFPIM]

Make that one more day of the year I won't be watching the NFL Draft

[Cliff Levingston]

Cliff Levingston would've put the 1st round on Friday night, then the second and third rounds on Saturday night, then the rest on Sunday afternoon. Not many people are all too interested in round 4-7 anyway, but at least having round 1 on Friday, Cliff Levingston would think you'd maximize your audience. Then on Saturday, you'd have more people on the West Coast who could watch.

Oh well. It doesn't really affect Cliff Levingston's life too much.

[BullHeaded]

Thursday night primetime is probably better for round 1 than Friday night. Notice the networks like to stack there best shows on Thursday evenings? Better ratings/audience. Cliff Levingston can have a couple of beers without worrying about who the Bears are going to draft in the first round... oh wait... we don't have a first round pick. Never mind.

[blumeany]

Ugh, they should take a cue from the NBA. Do the first two rounds in prime time, then do the rest of the rounds on ESPN2 the next day.

EDIT: Yeah, Friday night TV is traditionally the graveyard of shows. There are certain demographics that stay in and watch (read: old folks), but the coveted demographics are usually out doing something. I would say do it prime time Sat Night for rounds 1 and 2 (shorten them of course) and then do the remaining rounds Sun morning.

[WEFFPIM]

NBA only has two rounds