via press release:
Second largest audience ever for NFL Draft; Fans watch more video on NFL.com & NFL Mobile
Top 5 in local market ratings: Buffalo, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Jacksonville
The 2011 NFL Draft is the second most-viewed ever with a total of 42 million viewers for the three days of coverage on NFLN, ESPN and ESPN2. Buffalo led all markets in average local ratings for the three-day event (chart below). NFL Network posted its best-ever NFL Draft viewership averaging 566,000 viewers over the three days (previous record: 560,000 in 2010).
Fans also followed the Draft online and on their phones. During the three-day event, fans watched 11.4 million NFL.com video streams -- up 117 percent from the 2010 Draft (5.2 million) -- including 334 percent more live streams than last year.
The NFL's mobile products delivered nearly one million video streams during the Draft. New mobile products also drove other record-setting fan usage during the Draft, including:
- 64 percent of visitors to the NFL’s mobile apps watched video coverage of the Draft
- Fans who used one of the NFL’s mobile apps spent more than 17 minutes per visit
- More fans than ever followed the Draft on NFL.com’s mobile web site, increasing 23 percent over last year
Following are local market ratings for the three-day television coverage NFL Draft (combined average rating over NFLN, ESPN & ESPN2):
| 2011 NFL Draft: 3 Day HH Ratings Average | ||
| Rank | Market | HH Rating (ESPN/2 + NFLN) |
| 1 | Buffalo | 4.79 |
| 2 | New Orleans | 4.58 |
| 3 | Milwaukee | 4.52 |
| 4 | Cleveland-Akron (Canton) | 4.25 |
| 5 | Jacksonville | 4.24 |
| 6 | Kansas City | 4.21 |
| 7 | Dayton | 4.19 |
| 8 | Detroit | 4.05 |
| 9 | Dallas | 3.96 |
| 10 | Columbus, OH | 3.90 |
| 11 | Greensboro-H.Point-Winston Salem | 3.80 |
| 12 | Baltimore | 3.73 |
| 13 | West Palm Beach - Ft. Pierce | 3.65 |
| 14 | Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News | 3.56 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh | 3.52 |
| 16 | Charlotte | 3.50 |
| 17 | Washington, D.C. | 3.37 |
| 18 | Denver | 3.16 |
| 19 | San Diego | 3.12 |
| 20 | Cincinnati | 3.06 |
| 21 | Nashville | 3.02 |
| 22 | Houston | 2.98 |
| 23 | Atlanta | 2.96 |
| 24 | Miami-Ft. Lauderdale | 2.95 |
| 25 | Seattle | 2.91 |
