Denver a finalist to host draft in 2019 or 2020
The NFL draft could be coming to Denver. And if the Broncos follow in the footsteps of the Philadelphia Eagles, perhaps a Super Bowl victory could follow.
The Broncos were informed by the league Thursday that Denver is one of five finalist cities to host the draft in either 2019 or 2020. The other finalists are Cleveland-Canton, Kansas City, Mo., Las Vegas and Nashville, Tenn. The announcement for the host cities for those two years is expected to come in May during the league’s spring meeting in Atlanta.
“It’s a competitive process, and we’re excited to move one step closer to bringing the NFL Draft to Denver,” Broncos CEO Joe Ellis said in a statement released by the team. “Working alongside Visit Denver and the Denver Sports Commission, we’re confident that Denver would be a tremendous host to showcase the draft and the NFL in a great football environment.”
Ellis told The Denver Post in September that the Broncos had submitted a bid to host the 2020 draft.
“The draft is something we’d really like to see accomplished,” Ellis said then. “We believe it would be a great thing for the city, a great thing for Colorado, a great thing for this Rocky Mountain region. It would draw a lot of people and would be a really fun event.”
After hosting the draft in New York City from 1965 to 2014, the NFL branched out in 2015 and held the draft in Chicago. It stayed there in 2016 before moving to Philadelphia in 2017, a spirited event bested only by the Super Bowl parade that marched through the city this month. This year’s draft will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, beginning April 26.
Hosting the draft can be an economic boon. The Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau concluded that last year’s draft drew 250,000 visitors to the city and generated $94.9 million in economic impact, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer story. Last year’s draft produced the second-biggest television audience ever, with a combined 9.2 million people tuning into opening-night broadcasts on ESPN and NFL Network.
It’s not yet clear what venue Denver would use to host the draft if selected, though the city’s convention center could be one option.