Nearly a decade ago, the NFL draft became a traveling road show by accident, when Radio City Music Hall wasn’t available and the league had to look elsewhere. Since then, it’s become ridiculously popular, with huge crowds attending the city-by-city sessions.
This year, it’s Kansas City. Via Forbes.com, the NFL expects 300,000 fans for the outdoor event. Favorable weather conditions could push the number even higher, possibly challenging the record of 600,000 in Nashville from 2019.
The three-day event is expected to have a $100 million impact on the city, from hotels to restaurants to the various other ways money changes hands.
“No one can really think of anything that would have been bigger,” Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission and Visit KC, said, via Forbes.com. “This is probably the largest sporting event and possibly even the largest event our city has ever hosted.”
It’s why more and more cities want to host the draft. Even though it could be done anywhere, or nowhere at all, it continues to be a major event. The NFL’s version of the Harry Potter sorting-hat ceremony. (“Nerd!”) With fans waiting to see which players go where, as their favorite teams hopefully find the players who will transform a franchise.
Like the team in Kansas City did six years ago, when trading up for a quarterback named Patrick Mahomes.
