The NFL announced on Thursday that the 2010 NFL Draft will move to prime time and will be a three day event. The first round will be televised on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 EST. The second and third rounds will be televised on Friday, April 23 at 6:30 EST. And rounds four through seven will take place on Saturday, April 24 at 10 am EST. About the move, commissioner Roger Goodell said:
"We continue to look for ways to make the draft more accessible to more fans. Moving the first round to prime time on Thursday night will make the first round of the draft available to fans on what is typically the most-watched night of television."
Of course, anyone with half of a brain can see right through this ridiculous statement. We all know it's about the money. But I guess we can't expect Goodell to say, "We wanted more money and this was a way to make us, the rich, even richer."
But to play it off like this move is for the fans is just absurd. How does this benefit the fans? How does it make it more convenient for the fans? Instead of chewing up two days, it'll chew up three days. Fans who treated the NFL Draft like a holiday will no longer be able to do so. In fact, if you live out west and work during the week until 5 or 6, you're going to miss part of round one - which begins 4:30 pacific - and even more of round two - wich begins at 3:30 pacific. So how exactly does this benefit those fans?
Maybe I'm missing something, but all this does it make it more inconvenient for the fans and I get the feeling that ratings for the event will drop in 2010 - leading to a change back to the way it has been.