The 2016 NFL draft will get underway in Chicago this upcoming Thursday. The three-day event was a smashing hit in the Windy City last year, its first outside of New York City since 1964.
Unfortunately, Chicago can’t expect to host the important event beyond next week.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell just recently indicated that he expects the popular event to be held outside of Chicago in 2017:
Goodell told the Chicago Sun-Times that it’s “very likely” the draft will be held in another city next year. The commissioner went on to add that he was very pleased by the job the city did in hosting the event last year.
It was a much different situation than what we had seen in New York over the previous half century. After the first round, a lot of the picks were announced from city’s around the United States, bringing the selection process closer to venues in the league’s 31 other locations.
For Chicago, the three-day event was met with a party-like atmosphere in some of the city’s famous locations, including Grant Park.
The NFL may in fact decide to rotate host cities for the draft moving forward, much like it does with the Super Bowl.
As this event continues to grow in popularity, it only makes sense for the league to bring it to other cities. After all, the league is expecting about 300,000 people to attend its events in Chicago during the three-day draft next week. That popularity could very well help grow the brand in other cities.
Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Arizona are all locations out west that could be in play to host the event next year.