The NFL Draft has been in New York City for as long as I can remember. The Capital of the World is it’s rightful home, as the NFL Draft is the freshman orientation to the Game of the Empire. And Radio City Music Hall is the optimal venue for housing the NFL Draft too. However, Easter shows will move the NFL Draft from April to May.
And in 2015, the NFL Draft location is up for grabs. And yes, Chicago, the Second City, is in play for hosting the NFL Draft.
To get in the NFL Draft mood, watch this Sports Nutz NFL Draft video:
Because Chicago doesn’t have a dome, we can’t host cool events like a Super Bowl or the college basketball Final Four. Instead, those marquee events go to lame, downtrodden cities like St. Louis or Detroit. Bummer.
But we could have a NFL Draft, as Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune reports in today’s Business section:
“It’s an extremely popular event,” said Brian Learst, chief executive of North Carolina-based QuintEvents, which sells VIP NFL draft packages for the league. Its limited inventory of “a few hundred” is snapped up quickly each year at more than $500 a pop. “A lot of people might be surprised by that, but the avid football fan absolutely loves it. People want to be there to see the action and who gets which players. … We have people who fly in from around the country, stay a few days in Manhattan, take in a few plays as well.”
Unlike a Pro Bowl or Super Bowl, the NFL draft shouldn’t require investing more than $1 billion in facilities and infrastructure.
That said, Chicago doesn’t really have a slam-dunk facility to compete with Radio City, which has seating for up to 6,000. The capacity for indoor theatrical/music venues here tends to top out around 4,500. The United Center isn’t really an option because the number of consecutive dates the league needs would conflict — one hopes — with potential playoff dates for the Bulls and Blackhawks.
The best existing venue might be the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion, which can hold almost 7,000.
As you can see there’s many pros and cons for Chicago hosting the NFL Draft. And on the NFL side, there are many pros and cons for choosing Chicago as a NFL Draft city.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net. He’s also an author who also contributes regularly to MSN, Fox Sports , Chicago Now, Walter Football.com and Yardbarker
Banks has appeared on the History Channel, as well as Clear Channel, ESPN and CBS radio all over the world. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@PaulMBanks), like him on Facebook