Every spring, the future of football franchises is recast.
After decades in New York City, the NFL Draft has been hosted in a different football town every year since 2015. The historically dry affair has become an annual three-day megaevent that draws 100,000-plus gridiron devotees.
From April 24-26, for the first time, the draft is coming to Titletown. The host Green Bay Packers predict the draft will bring 240,000 visitors – nearly doubling Brown County’s population – while generating $94 million in statewide economic impact.
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Only about $20 million of that total is expected in the Green Bay area, as many attendees will spend their nights elsewhere – as far south as Milwaukee and as far north as the U.P. The first small-market draft also has a lower expected economic impact; last two drafts in Detroit and Kansas City generated an estimated $214 million and $164 million, respectively.
As we saw when the Republican National Convention came to Milwaukee last July, it’s fair to expect that windfall for local businesses to be very uneven.
Green Bay-area hotels are either full or seeking eye-popping rates. As of mid-December, a room with two full beds at the Ashwaubenon Motel 6 for the two nights of the draft would cost $1,836. The same room the following Thursday-Friday: $145. The few unbooked Airbnbs in view of Lambeau Field were asking for $3,000 to $40,000 per night.
The impact of these big events often isn’t as wide-reaching because attendees aren’t typical tourists; they’re not in town to shop or go on brewery tours, and they often remain in ticketed areas. And local regulars – the lifeblood of hospitality businesses – often avoid the surrounding hullabaloo of such events.
This was exactly the experience of restaurateur Evan Ashby, who co-owns a pair of fast-casual breakfast spots in Kansas City called Mildred’s. Ashby says his restaurants barely made figures the weekend the draft was in town in 2023, despite the downtown Mildred’s location being less than a mile from the park where the draft was held.
“It left us feeling bummed out,” Ashby says. Some restaurants in Kansas City in 2023, as well as in Detroit in 2024, actually reported a decrease in sales the week of the draft. “The draft is a self-sustaining event,” Ashby recalls. “They have food and beer and everything a draft attendee would need.”
To serve the draft crowd with food, drinks, etc. inside the ticketed area, the NFL and Packers are soliciting local vendors. Outside the Lambeau area, business groups are hoping (and working) for a little more consumer diaspora.
The message from Downtown Green Bay Inc.: “Take a break from the draft and take a walk along the river,” says Jen Metcalf, assistant director. “Lambeau Field is iconic,” adds Red Sember, communications director. “But there’s so much more to Green Bay than just green and gold.”
Feel the Draft
Dates: April 24- 26 (Thursday and Friday nights, daytime Saturday).
Location: Temporary arena on the Titletown campus near Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
Events: Aside from the seven rounds of player selections, the NFL Draft Experience is a “free football festival,” including games, interactive exhibits and player appearances. A free concert is expected, but no lineups had been announced as of press time.
Cost: Free with advance registration, certain areas may require purchase of special tickets.
More info: packers.com/draft25
