September 01, 2016
By yesterday, it was apparent why there was a press conference called at City Hall this afternoon.
“On behalf of the NFL, I’m very excited to announce today that the NFL Draft is returning to its birthplace,” said Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s senior vice-president of events.
So the NFL will indeed hold the 2017 draft in Philadelphia. But what about the details? Here are some things that we learned on Thursday:
After 50 years at different venues in New York (Radio City Music Hall, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, etc.) the NFL decided to give the draft a different feel when it moved to Grant Park in Chicago.
In Philadelphia, “Draft Town” will be the Ben Frankin Parkway. There was talk of of possibly incorporating the Rocky steps outside of the Art Museum. And according to Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, when NFL officials toured the city, they knew exactly where they wanted to hold the draft.
“They looked down the parkway and they said, ‘This is it,’” Kenney said. “If we come here, this is it.”
According to Julie Coker Graham, the President and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, no taxpayer dollars will need to be contributed to the event. The budget for the event is about $25 million, and Coker Graham said that the NFL is responsible for the infrastructure (including, most importantly, the building of the auditorium).
Coker Graham estimated that Philadelphia would need to raise somewhere in the ballpark of $5 million dollars, which would be done exclusively by the business community.
“With the budget we have currently, there is no need for taxpayer dollars,” Coker Graham said.
Chicago hosted the draft for two years, and there is a chance that Philly could follow suit. According to O’Reilly, there will be competition as over half of the NFL’s markets are interested in hosting the event.
“Anything is possible, this is a one-year deal with an option with a second year for us,” O’Reilly said.
One thing that Philly does have going for it is location, with many fanbases on the East Coast within diving distance.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
