Following last year's first ever virtual draft, the NFL will be holding this year's draft live and in-person and we have all the details on how you can watch all three days of coverage of the 2021 NFL Draft on TV or online.
For 50 years New York City was the home of the NFL Draft until the league began to hold the event in a new location each year starting in 2015. While last year's draft was originally scheduled to be held in Las Vegas, the decision was made to implement a virtual selection instead.
Now though, the situation has improved and the NFL will be holding this year's draft in Cleveland, Ohio. However, instead of holding the event in one location, the 2021 NFL Draft will take place at several locations around the city including FirstEnergy Stadium, the rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center. Up to 50,000 lucky fans will get to attend the draft in person along with a limited number of draft prospects.
Over the course of three days, there will be a total of 259 picks in this year's draft. While the Jacksonville Jaguars will have the first selection in round 1, the final selection will belong to last season's Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On Thursday the first 32 prospects will be selected, then on Friday another 73 prospects will be selected and on Saturday the remaining 154 selections will be made.
Timing also plays a big role in the draft as teams have a set number of minutes to make their picks in each round. In Round 1 teams will have 10 minutes per selection, in Round 2 they'll have seven minutes, in Rounds 3-6 they will have five minutes and during Round 7 each team will only have four minutes to make their selections.
Whether you're a big college football fan waiting to see which of your favorite players from last season gets called up to the big league or are just eagerly awaiting the start of the 2021-2022 NFL season, we'll show how to watch the 2021 NFL Draft from anywhere in the world.
2021 NFL Draft: When and where?
The 2021 NFL Draft will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, and will begin on Thursday, April 29, runing through Saturday, May 1. Round 1 will begin at 8pm ET / 5pm PT on Thursday, Rounds 2 and 3 will begin at 7pm ET / 4pm PT on Friday, and Rounds 4-7 will begin at 12pm ET / 9am PT on Saturday.
The 2021 NFL Draft will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and the NFL Network in the U.S., TSN in Canada, Sky Sports in the UK, and on ESPN via Foxtel in Australia.
How to watch the 2021 NFL Draft in the U.S.
If you live in the U.S. and have a cable subscription, you'll be able to watch coverage of all three days of the 2021 NFL draft on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and the NFL Network. This is because this year's draft will be broadcast simultaneously across all four of these networks from Thursday, April 29 to Saturday, May 1.
Not interested in signing up for an expensive cable package to watch this year's NFL Draft, don't worry as there are now a number of streaming services, all at different price points, that will give you access to the networks you'll need to watch the 2021 NFL Draft in its entirety. We've listed a few of our favorites below to help make things easier for you.
- Hulu with Live TV - $64.99 per month - Hulu with Live TV gives you access to ABC and ESPN but not to the NFL Network. The service also includes its own Hulu Originals and supports a wide variety of streaming devices.
- YouTube TV - $65 per month - YouTube TV gives you access to ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network as well as over 70 other TV channels. A free 7-day trial is also available so you can test it out for yourself.
- AT&T TV Now - $69.99 per month - AT&T TV Now will give you access to ABC and ESPN but it doesn't include the NFL Network. The service allows you to watch over 45 live TV channels and you can also record up to 20 hours of content using its cloud DVR.
- FuboTV - starting at $64.99 per month - FuboTV gives you access to ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network as well as over 80 other channels. The service also includes a 7-day free trial so you can test it out for yourself.
- Sling TV - $35 per month - In order to get access to ESPN and the NFL Network, you'll have to sign up for both Sling TV's Sling Orange and Sling Blue packages as the Orange plan includes ESPN while the Blue plan includes the NFL Network. While each package costs $35 per month on their own, bundling the two together will cost you $50 per month.
Get a 2021 NFL Draft live stream in Canada
Canadian football fans that want to watch the 2021 NFL Draft can do so on TSN as the network will show all three days of the draft on TSN1/5 and TSN4. If you'd rather stream this year's draft online, the streaming service DAZN has you covered. DAZN costs either $20 per month or $150 for the year but the service does offer a one-month free trial if you want to test it out for yourself to watch the 2021 NFL Draft.
DAZN is the best place to go for online streaming of the NFL Draft in Canada. You can try it free for one month and then pay just $20 monthly after that, or $150 for the year.
Watch the 2021 NFL Draft in the UK
Fans of American football in the UK will be able to watch the 2021 NFL Draft live on Sky Sports beginning at 1am BST on Friday as the network's Sky Sports Action channel will become Sky Sports NFL for the entire duration of the draft. If you're already a Sky Sports subscriber, you'll also be able to live stream the entire draft using the Sky Go app.
However, if you're not a Sky Sports subscriber, you can still watch the 2021 NFL Draft on NOW (formerly Now TV) with a Sky Sports Day Pass for £9.99 or a Sky Sports Monthly Pass for £33.99. NOW TV will also let you stream this year's draft on your computer, smartphone, smart TV, or other streaming devices.
Watch Sky Sports' coverage of the NFL Draft online with a NOW Sports Membership. Watch one day's coverage for £10 or snag a monthly pass for £34.
Livestream the 2021 NFL Draft from Australia
If you live in Australia and have a cable subscription, you'll be able to watch the 2021 NFL Draft on Foxtel via ESPN. The network will show the draft on Friday beginning at 10am AEST (Thursday's coverage) as well as at 9am AEST on Saturday (Friday's coverage). Rounds 4-7 (Sunday's coverage) will be shown on Sunday beginning at 2am AEST.
Alternatively, the over-the-top service Kayo Sports will also show the 2021 NFL Draft. The service costs between $25 and $35 per month depending on the package you choose but new customers can take advantage of Kayo Sports' 14-day Free Trial to watch this year's draft.
Kayo Sports should be your go-to for this year's NFL Draft if you're in Australia. You can even make the most of a free trial if you've never signed up before.
Watch the 2021 NFL Draft from anywhere
We have all the details on how you can watch the 2021 NFL Draft in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia above in this guide. However, if you want to watch the 86th NFL Draft live when you're away from home, then you'll run into problems as your domestic coverage online from abroad will likely be geo-blocked.
That's where a VPN (Virtual Private Network) can really come in handy. They allow you to virtually change the IP address of your laptop, tablet, or mobile to one that's back in your home country which will let you watch as if you were back there.
VPNs are incredibly easy to use and have the added benefit of providing you with an additional layer of security when surfing the web. There are also a lot of options but we recommend ExpressVPN as our top pick due to its speed, security, and ease of use. The service can even be used on a wide array of operating systems and devices (e.g. iOS, Android, Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, Roku, game consoles, etc). Sign up for ExpressVPN now and enjoy a 49% discount and 3 months FREE with an annual subscription. You can even test it out for yourself thanks to the service's 30-day money-back guarantee. Looking for more options?
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