You have to hand it to the NFL for making three days of reading names off cards into the second-biggest event on the league calendar.

A record 805,000 fans visited the three-day event in Pittsburgh, with a single-day attendance record of 320,000 for Thursday’s first round.

Only the Super Bowl is bigger, and even then that’s only of serious interest to two teams, but all 32 are involved in the draft for one simple reason – hope.

The worst teams get the best picks of the college superstars and that gives them hope of a magical turnaround – and the NFL has managed to market it all as a must-see experience.

Detroit hosted 775,000 fans in 2024, Green Bay had 600,000 last year, and both were topped by Pittsburgh.

Washington DC will hope for even more next year and commissioner Roger Goodell revealed cities were lining up to win hosting duties in years to come – with representatives from 10 on scouting trips in Pittsburgh this weekend.

The NFL Draft looks set to get even bigger.