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It’s official. The Green Bay Packers have announced they will host the 2025 NFL draft.
Many thought this day would never come. After all, the Packers are the NFL’s smallest market and people questioned whether they had the infrastructure to support such a major event. However, with two years to plan, the league is excited to have the draft featured in a new city.
“The draft has become a prominent offseason event hosted in different cities with spectacular locations across the country, and we are excited to work with the Packers and Discover Green Bay to bring the 2025 NFL Draft to Green Bay and iconic Lambeau field,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Perhaps no one is happier than Packers CEO Mark Murphy, who has been working to bring the draft to Green Bay since 2016.
“We are so excited and honored to be able to host the draft in 2025,” Murphy said in an interview with Larry McCarren of Packers.com.
"We are so excited & honored to be able to host the draft in 2025." #Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy on the NFL Draft coming to Green Bay pic.twitter.com/wiYEiLc4qf
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) May 22, 2023
“I’m just really happy, not only for the organization but for the whole community. Actually, the entire state is going to benefit from it. It’s a huge event and it grows every year. It’s going to be spectacular.”
According to Murphy, the economic impact of the draft will have a lasting effect statewide. When you factor in the number of people traveling to the area and watching on TV, he estimates the draft will generate around $94 million, or six times more than a typical Packers home game.
Of course, getting the draft to come to Green Bay wasn’t easy. It’s a rigorous process not far behind trying to host a Super Bowl — something the organization has also never done, though this may get their foot in the door.
To win over the league, the Packers naturally sold them on the idea of hosting the draft at one of the most iconic venues in the NFL in Lambeau Field. They also have another major attraction in Titletown, which only just opened in 2017 and has been a great source of revenue.
While hosting the draft is an exciting new development, the hard part has only just begun. The league and Green Bay now have to go through an intense planning process to make sure everything runs smoothly. In the meantime, the City of Green Bay will reap the benefits from the build-up over the next couple of years, says Murphy.
“This is basically a two-year commercial on all the benefits and all that Green Bay has to offer.”