By most accounts, the city of Philadelphia raised the bar when it comes to hosting the NFL Draft. Now, Green Bay wants to show what it can do.
The city of Green Bay had representatives in Philadelphia to observe the festivities and what goes into hosting the grand event of the NFL’s offseason. One of the main takeaways from the event was just how many people showed up for the event on the Ben Franklin Parkway. The NFL claims at least 250,000 fans showed up to watch the picks on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
That may seem like a tall order for a smaller location like Green Bay, but the president and CEO of the Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau says that will not be a concern.
“My gut feeling is with the people they had in town, we could accommodate that,” Brad Toll said, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Between the Resch Center and Titletown District, we certainly have every bit of space they need.”
Space isn’t necessarily the biggest concern. It is the hotel accommodations and transportation options available.
Hotel rooms seem the biggest challenge, but that depends on how many the NFL requires and how close they need to be to the event. Toll said they are waiting to hear from the league on that.
By the end of this year, Green Bay will have just under 4,700 rooms, Appleton will have 3,000, and as with the Wisconsin-LSU college football game in September 2016, it’s not unreasonable to expect some people to stay as far away as Milwaukee or Madison and points in between.
Green Bay has plenty to offer with planned renovations and projects ongoing right now, however. And bringing the NFL Draft to a location like Green Bay would bring the biggest event of the offseason to a community like this would be fun, but part of what makes the event attractive for fans is the gathering of fans from all over that want to enjoy the fun as well.
Cities like New York, Chicago and Philadelphia make it easy for fans of local and regional teams to attend. Getting to Green Bay may be more of a hassle, which may or may not be a concern for the NFL.
