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The 2020 NFL Draft will be unorthodox due to the coronavirus pandemic, with teams making their selections remotely instead of the planned event in Las Vegas. This year, it will be a collaborative effort with ESPN, the NFL Network and ABC teaming up for this year’s broadcast.
The league announced its plans for the broadcast on Monday, April 13.
The draft will be hosted by Trey Wingo, with ESPN’s Mel Kiper, Louis Riddick and Booger McFarland joining the broadcast. NFL Network’s Rich Eisen, Daniel Jeremiah, Michael Irvin and Kurt Warner will also be part of the broadcast remotely.
“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,” said Seth Markman, vice president of production for ESPN, in a statement. “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.”
ABC will also air a broadcast on Thursday and Friday nights featuring the College GameDay crew including Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, Maria Taylor, Todd McShay, and Kirk Herbstreit.
The draft takes place April 23-25.
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In recent years, the NFL has strayed from tradition and moved the draft out of New York City, where it had been held for years.
In 2015, the NFL Draft moved to Chicago, Illinois which marked the first time since 1965 that the draft was held outside of New York City. It was held at Auditorium Theatre in Grant Part which marked the first draft to feature an outdoor component. The draft returned to Chicago in 2016 after the great reception a year prior. In 2017, the draft shifted to Philadelphia where it was held on the iconic Rocky Steps outside of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was the most attended draft in NFL history with more than 250,000 fans.
Then, in 2018, the draft was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and it marked more NFL first’s. It was the first time in history that the draft was held in the state of Texas, while also being the first draft to take place in an NFL stadium. The 2019 NFL Draft was held in Nashville, Tennessee.
