The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Main stage theater process underway
Structure will be 90 feet high when completed
The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission isn’t letting concern and respect for fighting the novel coronavirus dampen enthusiasm for Cleveland hosting the NFL draft later this month.
Construction of the main staging theater for the draft, which will stand 90 feet high when completed, began April 7 at the North Coast Harbor site at 515 Erieside Drive, north of the Great Lakes Science Center and northeast of FirstEnergy Stadium. The 2021 draft is set for April 29-May 1.
Cleveland began bidding to host the draft in 2016.
When the NFL approved the bid in May 2019, city officials had visions of 150,000 fans packing the staging area, just as that number of football crazies from around the country shoehorned themselves onto Broadway in downtown Nashville for the 2019 draft.
It was a spectacular sight on television and a great commercial for Nashville and the NFL.
A lot has changed since then. Las Vegas was scheduled to host the 2020 NFL draft, but at that point the COVID-19 pandemic had been around only two months. Much of the country was on stay-at-home orders. The NFL nixed its Las Vegas plans and held the draft virtually.
With the pandemic lingering, plans for Cleveland as draft host are full-steam ahead — or almost fullsteam.
“We’re very excited to be here,” Mike Muhall, vice president of Business Development for Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, said during a news conference with construction beginning behind him. “This was four years in the making. There were times in the last 12 months we didn’t know if we’d get here.
“We’re thrilled that just three weeks from tomorrow, we’re going to showcase Cleveland to the world. We’re not going to look like Nashville because we’re going to be social distancing. We’re going to be wearing masks. But we’re focusing on what the draft will be for Cleveland — not what it won’t be.”
Muhall explained the area around FirstEnergy Stadium, the Science Center and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be the footprint for the NFL Draft Experience. He said any fan wishing to attend the draft must download the NFL OnePass app at NFL.com. The three days of the draft are divided into three sessions each to give more fans the opportunity to take part
in the numerous festivities. There is no charge for the Draft Experience passes.
“We haven’t determined officially what the number of fans will be,” Mulhall said. “Health and safety will drive every decision. We continue to work with state and local officials. We want to invite as many fans as we can safely.
“The draft theatre is a different story. That will be by invitation only through the NFL and some local
partners.”
Anyone inside FirstEnergy Stadium or at the other sites in the Draft Experience footprint will be able to follow how the draft unfolds in the staging area by watching the television feed on the jumbo scoreboards and other TVs set up for that purpose.
“It’s a really exciting day for us to see the stage starting to be erected.” Mulhall said. “It’s awesome to see steel start to go up and
cranes out there.”
Trevor Lawrence, the quarterback expected to be selected by Jacksonville with the first pick, has announced he will watch the draft with family and and college friends and teammates at Clemson. Most of the other top prospects will be in a green room off stage waiting for their name to be called and be greeted by Commissioner Roger Goodell as in past drafts before 2020.