Why is the draft in Green Bay? How NFL chose the host city for 2025 NFL Draft and beyond | Sporting News

The NFL Draft is staying right in the NFC North, calling Green Bay its host this year after Detroit played host in 2024.

While Green Bay is the NFL's smallest city in terms of population, "Titletown" is well prepared for the draft and the huge crowd it brings in.

The city is football-obsessed and has been planning to host the event for many years, dating back even to before Green Bay was announced as the 2025 host.

The draft won't have much of an NFC North flavor, at least at the top.

The division sent three teams to the playoffs in 2024 and only has one team picking in the top-20 in the first round, but Packers fans will still be well-represented when the selections begin.

Here's a closer look at why Green Bay is hosting the NFL Draft in 2025.

Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp Why is the NFL Draft in Green Bay? The NFL Draft was held in New York City from 1965-2014, but after a scheduling conflict forced the event into May in 2014, the league started to look elsewhere.

After the draft brought fans out in droves in Chicago the following year, the NFL started to realize it could make the draft a traveling event.

As soon as the draft started to move around, the Packers started angling to host.

The NFL had "concerns about whether the Green Bay area had enough infrastructure, including hotels and convention space, to host such a large-scale event," so it took a bit longer to secure the draft than the franchise hoped, but the city of barely more than 100,000 put together a plan that satisfied the league.

Green Bay is too cold in February to host a Super Bowl at iconic Lambeau Field, but it's (hopefully) just warm enough in April to host a horde of fans hungry for football.

Green Bay is the ninth city in as many years, minus the remote 2020 draft, to host the NFL Draft, so expect the event to continue to tour the league's destinations.

Future NFL Draft locations The 2026 NFL Draft will be held in Pittsburgh, home of the Steelers .

No other future draft locations have been determined, but Denver and Washington D.C.

are both reportedly vying for the chance to host in 2027.

Pittsburgh was announced as the 2026 host in May 2024, so the 2027 host should be decided in the coming weeks.

MORE NFL DRAFT: Big board | 7-round mock draft | Mock with trades How are NFL Draft locations selected? Just like Super Bowls, NFL Draft sites are selected by the owners after interested teams submit proposals.

Teams and cities hoping to host the NFL Draft must have a budget and a plan for the weekend, which typically centers itself in a downtown area rather than inside a stadium.

Unlike Super Bowls, just about any city can host the NFL Draft.

Late April tends to be much warmer than early February, so cold-weather cities such as Green Bay, Cleveland , Pittsburgh, and more can all celebrate one of the staples on the NFL calendar..

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