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August 12, 2015The NFL Draft had long called New York City its home. The draft was held in New York every year from 1965 to 2014, with Radio City Music Hall the host from 2006 to 2014. That changed for the 2015 draft, which was held in Chicago for the first time since 1964; the city will host the 2016 draft as well.
After a successful trip to the Windy City last year, word is that other locales will be considered for future drafts, starting with competitive bidding in 2017. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Cleveland is among the potential landing spots. The other cities include Denver, Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh.
Chicago earned strong reviews for its hosting, and the fresh look of a new backdrop seems to have inspired the NFL to consider taking the draft to other towns.
From the Chicago Tribune:
[Senior VP of events for the NFL, Peter] O’Reilly said that several cities were in the running to host the draft in 2016, but an analysis of this year’s successful event [in Chicago] ended the competition quickly. He said the league will open up bidding for the 2017 draft this fall, creating a “more formal process” to allow all NFL cities to participate.
Cleveland hosted last week’s Republican presidential primary debate at Quicken Loans Arena and is gearing up to host the 2016 Republican National Convention. The revamped infrastructure — hopefully, anyway; have you seen Public Square lately? — and amenities would seem to lend themselves to hosting an event like the NFL Draft as well. A strong showing for the RNC would go a long way toward helping Cleveland’s case.
Canton was among the cities that applied to host the 2015 draft back in May 2014. Canton hosts the Hall of Fame game and induction festivities every year; the draft may be too big of an animal for the city to take on by itself.
With Pittsburgh reportedly vying to host the Super Bowl in 2023 and both Cleveland and Pittsburgh in the running for the draft, the teams of the AFC North are looking to expand their footprint and take hosting duties away from the usual big (e.g. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles) and warm-weather (e.g. Miami, New Orleans) cities.
The 2016 NFL Draft will take place from April 28 to 30.
7 Comments
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i thought the draft lacked the prime-time feel it usually has. No iconic Radio City. No celebrity sightings. No dice.
They need to return the draft to New York.
says the resident new yorker…
Well it is OUR Super Bowl every year, so this seems only right
well, this IS the view from my desk….
More power to you, I couldn’t deal with it.
nah – i can’t deal with it either. Times Square is basically just like a Greyhound station with lots of lights and smelly Eurotrash – lowest common denominator.