Green Bay Packers

Earning the NFL Draft Has Been A Long Time Coming For Green Bay

Photo credit: Sarah Kloepping-Green Bay Press-Gazette via USA TODAY Sports

After years of speculation, the Green Bay Packers finally announced on Monday that the franchise would host the 2025 NFL Draft. The announcement came during the NFL Spring League Meeting, and while the news was met with great excitement from the Packers fanbase, there were plenty of skeptics that the smallest market in American pro sports will be able to host the league’s premier offseason event. While the criticism is understandable on a surface level, hosting the draft is a prime opportunity to show off the investment made in the stadium district surrounding Lambeau Field, and to prove that the city is up to the task of hosting an event of this magnitude.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell lauded the efforts of the Packers organization and Discover Green Bay, the convention and tourism bureau working behind the scenes to help make this news reality. All of the event details are not yet finalized, according to the release on Packers.com. However, the main portion of the event is expected to take place within Lambeau Field and the surrounding Titletown District, with three days of interactive exhibits, autograph sessions, and a free NFL Draft Experience.

The genesis of the skepticism from outside Wisconsin is that while Lambeau Field can seat over 80,000 people on a gameday, the city of Green Bay is home to just over 100,000 people, and the metro market is between 300,000 and 400,000. If estimates are true, and based off the 300,000 fans that descended on Kansas City for this year’s 2023 NFL Draft, the influx of fans could roughly double the population of the city for the weekend. How will the city be able to pull it off?

Well, just like Rome wasn’t built in a day, the plan to bring in an event like this has been a decade in the making. The Packers first announced the news of the Titletown District in 2015. Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said that “We see Titletown as a long-term, authentic neighborhood to attract and retain people for this community. The community has kept this franchise going. With the support we’ve received, Lambeau Field has become a destination.”

The development of the Titletown District over the past 10 years has been a multi-phased approach, bringing hundreds of residences alongside dozens of businesses to the 45 acres of land adjacent to the stadium. The area is packed with restaurants, one of which includes a place to play Top Golf. It’s Wisconsin, so there’s plenty of places to grab a drink, such as Hinterland Brewery. It will be busy, but the area will find a way. Murphy estimated on Monday that the event would have an economic impact approaching $100 million to the community, helping to prove why an investment in a stadium district like so is a wise investment.

The NFL has not seemed too keen on having another Super Bowl in a colder weather climate since Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. It kicked off at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey at a balmy 49 degrees, then saw an overnight snowstorm roll in overnight that made departure travel a nightmare for thousands of attendees. That experiment all but took Lambeau Field and Green Bay out of the running for the Super Bowl, but only heightened the desire for an event like the NFL Draft to come to Wisconsin.

The way in which the Green Bay area transforms anywhere from eight to 12 weekends a year, from a standard Midwest town into one of the premier bucket list destinations in all of sports, never ceases to be amazing. Anywhere there’s a flat surface suddenly becomes a place where someone can charge you $20 to park your car. The surrounding neighborhoods become a well-orchestrated effort to get people into town, and then back out soon after the game ends. The community is anchored around its sports venue unlike any other in the country, and the draft will be another opportunity to show off its unending hospitality.

More than anything, perhaps, is that the NFL doesn’t make mistakes with things like this. It’s an event that continues to grow in popularity year after year, and the league would not risk putting it in a location that couldn’t handle the influx. The Packers and Green Bay have been hosting big games for a long, long time, and have refined a process that works. With nearly two years now to prepare, this blue-collar community is without a doubt going to put on a show for hundreds of thousands of attendees, and tens of millions of viewers on TV.

“The Packers have a rich and proud history that goes back to the early days of the NFL and are the only community owned team,” Murphy said in a statement. “That connection to our League’s heritage combined with the great passion Packers fans will bring will make the Draft a memorable event for those in attendance and NFL fans watching around the world.”

Earning the opportunity to showcase the city of Green Bay and Lambeau Field in a way that it hasn’t been before is a phenomenal opportunity that won’t be taken lightly. It’s been a long time coming. While a snowflake or two isn’t totally out of the question, NFL fans are in for a treat.

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