AFL draft 2020 was the longest and most boring in history

While the three-and-a-half hours it took to select 59 players for the AFL Draft was totally unecessary and unprecedented, the slog may have been worth it for some.

It may have been a snooze fest but a record number of footy fans still watched the longest AFL draft in history.

Fox Footy have reported that Wednesday night’s four-and-a-half hour marathon telecast was the highest rating national draft ever with an average audience of 132,000.

It was up 34 per cent on night one of the 2019 draft and was also the No.1 show on Foxtel for the evening.

The Fox Footy crew led by Sarah Jones and Brad Johnson did an impressive job of trying to keep fans engaged.

And while taking three-and-a-half hours to select 59 players is lunacy, the bonus of the virtual draft was the unprecedented access the network got to clubs, the draftees and their families.

In a production jigsaw Fox managed to have live feeds from 35 different venues across Australia including into each club’s war room.

2020: I'm so long and unbearable

AFL Draft: Hold my beer

— Three Fingers Vishsky (@vishy_28) December 9, 2020

+ This #AFLDraft is seriously way too long. Players picked in round 1 will be retiring by the time this is over 🤦🏼‍♂️. pic.twitter.com/wVq23ENwRp

— Adriano Di Prato (@AdrianoDiPrato) December 9, 2020

Smart by the AFL to drag the draft out long enough to compete with the Big Bash Final #AFLDraft

— boxo70 (@boxie004) December 9, 2020

This draft has dragged on for so long we just watched the highlights of the 2031 season! Congratulations must go to @stkildafc! #AFLDraft

— Dave (@Slaternator11) December 9, 2020

And people say the Brownlow drags on too long. #AFLDraft

— Emily Blair (@_EmBlair) December 9, 2020

Three and a half bloody hours for 53 drafts picks. But 20-minute quarters is too long.

— Sam Landsberger 🗯 (@SamLandsberger) December 9, 2020

While that may have been impressive the fact there was a five-minute window for each selection drove viewers crazy and many vented their anger on social media.

AFL chief Gill McLachlan’s beard got a lot of coverage with suggestions he was clean shaven when the broadcast began.

The league certainly weren’t expecting such a snooze fest given they’d circulated an email to media organisations earlier in the week saying the expected finish time was 9.30pm.

The final pick - Jacob Wehr (GWS) was read out at 11.25pm Melb time

And the calamity continued on Thursday with the pre-season and rookie draft, which was scheduled to start at noon, beginning 10 minutes late because clubs were still dialling in.

Thankfully the pre-season draft was short and sweet, done in less than two minutes with Adelaide nominating former Giant Jackson Hately the one and only pick in the event.

Originally published as AFL draft 2020 was the longest and most boring in history