Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Green Bay passed over for 2024 NFL draft
Green Bay — Green Bay’s quest to host an NFL draft continues.
The league announced last month that Detroit would host the 2024 draft. Las Vegas is the 2022 host, followed by Kansas City in 2023. The 2022 draft is April 28-30.
“The Packers and the event’s community supporters remain optimistic that Green Bay will have the opportunity to host the NFL Draft in the near future,” said Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy. “We will continue to work with Discover Green Bay and our other partners in the effort to update our bid details and continue our dialogue with NFL officials so they remain excited about our community’s plan to host this significant event.”
The decision is a disappointment, but not the end of the effort, local organizers said.
“It’s not a yes or no answer. It’s a when. We are not giving up, regardless,” said Brad Toll, president and CEO of tourism bureau Discover Green Bay.
The draft could bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Green Bay area over the three days of the event, not counting television crews, NFL staffers and others needed for its production, who would be here for up to six weeks.
Toll estimated the draft would have, at minimum, a $90 million economic impact on Wisconsin, much of that centered on Brown County. The PGA estimated the Ryder Cup, held near Sheboygan in September 2021, was worth $130 million, and the draft could be bigger.
Philadelphia reported 250,000 attendees in 2017, Nashville claimed 600,000 in 2019 and Cleveland 160,000 in 2021. Cleveland’s smaller turnout was attributed to COVID-19 pandemic safety measures. The draft was held virtually in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Green Bay would rely heavily on the Resch Center/Resch Expo complex, Lambeau Field and the Titletown District to house the event, a configuration that would be similar to that used by Cleveland in April 2021.
As the smallest market in the NFL,
Green Bay has to rely on its unique attributes to attract the league, chief among them its history as one of the oldest franchises and the one with the most NFL championships at 13, Murphy said.
Loosely speaking, the draft is considered compensation for teams that never will host a Super Bowl. That’s not a hardand-fast rule. Consider Las Vegas, for example, which will host Super Bowl LVIII in 2024, and Detroit, which hosted Super Bowl XL in 2006.
Top European soccer teams to play at Lambeau Field
The Packers aim to host a football game between Manchester City and Bayern Munich in July at Lambeau Field. To Americans, that would be soccer.
The top-level European teams will play an exhibition game just days before Packers training camp opens, according to sources and internet posts.
The Packers said recently they would host a major event at Lambeau Field this year, but did not provide details. The team did not confirm the soccer match. They said they would announce details
when the event is finalized. It is possible terms are agreed to, but contracts have not been signed.
The Packers have said they would like to have one major non-Packers event at Lambeau each year, but stadium construction in 2018 and the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021 intervened. The Badgers will play Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in 2026.
Events they have had include Kenney Chesney concerts in 2011 and 2015, Wisconsin Badgers-LSU Tigers football in 2016, a Billy Joel concert in 2017 and Paul McCartney in 2019.
The Packers would have had a ninth regular-season game at Lambeau Field this year under the NFL’s new 17-game schedule, but instead will be playing the extra game in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The schedule for that game will be announced in the coming weeks.
Because of the London game, the Packers faced having one fewer game than normal at Lambeau Field, albeit a preseason game. The soccer match likely will more than make up for that financially.
The local financial impact of a regular-season Packers game is estimated at $15 million. A big contributor to that is that 80% or more of fans at those games travel more than 50 miles to be at Lambeau Field. The games import money into the community.
Preseason games probably have a lesser impact because attendees tend to be more local and more kid-oriented, which means fewer hotel stays and restaurant visits, and fewer bar patrons.
The Man City-Bayern game, on the other hand, will draw soccer fans from around the Midwest, if not the country and the world. Lambeau Field might not be big enough for a standard soccer field, but it’s iconic enough for people to want to see a match there.
Manchester City F.C. leads Liverpool by one point in the United Kingdom’s Premier League. F.C. Bayern Munich leads Dortmund by six points in Germany’s Bundesliga.
Packers envision Rodgers playing his entire career in Green Bay
Beyond the competitive ramifications, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst understood what re-signing Aaron Rodgers could mean for the franchise’s legacy with its future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Even if the four-year, $200 million contract Rodgers signed earlier this month is designed on a year-to-year structure, with guaranteed money spread into the future dependent on him playing, the Packers hope their future Hall of Fame quarterback retires playing only for them.
“We’d certainly like to,” Gutekunst said Monday at the NFL owners meetings when asked if he believes Rodgers will retire with the Packers. “I think that’s certainly one of the goals of his. I don’t want to speak for him, but I think that was kind of part of the scenario we thought when we moved through this process.”
Rodgers has not addressed the extension since signing it before the start of free agency.
The Packers were patient in affording Rodgers the space before re-signing. The extension was necessary with Rodgers entering the final year of a contract he signed before the 2018 season. Without it, the Packers risked Rodgers playing for another team in 2023 and not recouping any assets in his departure.
Gutekunst was adamant over the past year he would not trade the quarterback. Ultimately, he was able to maneuver through the obstacles of the past 12 months while arriving at a conclusion that ties Rodgers to the team potentially through the end of his career.
“We had a lot of conversations right after the season,” Gutekunst said, “and he kind of took some time to go through things and make sure that he wanted to commit to the significant time and effort he puts into preparing for the season. Once he got through that, that time, I think we found out probably shortly before the rest of the world found out.”
How Turner became a salary-cap casualty
It was simply a business decision that led to the Packers releasing veteran right tackle Billy Turner, Gutekunst said.
The Packers saved $3.43 million with Turner’s release. On the field, Turner was a stalwart on the offensive line, starting 43 of 49 regular-season games since signing with the Packers before the 2019 season. No offensive lineman started more games during that time.
The team thought enough of Turner’s ability to move him to left tackle for the playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers in January. Ultimately, Gutekunst decided to create cap space.
“The salary-cap thing played a big part of that,” Gutekunst said. “Billy was a warrior for us. Can’t say enough good things about Billy and what he’s done since we picked him up, but I think we had some young offensive linemen start to emerge, and just another tough decision but what we thought was right for the organization.”
Turner’s release might open the door for Yosh Nijman to become a bigger part of the Packers’ offensive line. Gutekunst admittedly was reluctant to give Nijman a significant role in the offense since he signed as an undrafted rookie in 2019. After Nijman filled in for David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins with eight starts at left tackle last season, Gutekunst acknowledged the young tackle was ready for a bigger role.
The Packers could slide Jenkins to right tackle if he heals from a torn ACL in time for Week 1, but Nijman’s play last season gives them an option to keep the Pro Bowl left guard at his best position.
“You have to give him a lot of credit through the past three years,” Gutekunst said, “just his work ethic and consistency working. I think he just needed an opportunity. It’s probably as much my fault as any, but we kept bringing in some veteran guys at tackle to shore up that third tackle spot, which never really gave him the opportunity. Once he got the opportunity, he certainly performed exceptionally well.
“So very proud of him and his work ethic and what he accomplished when he was given the opportunity.”