GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Local NFL Draft organizers feel like they’re on track to be ready for the big event in late April, but will it meet attendance projections over the three-day event?
Before Detroit opened the gates to last year’s NFL Draft, organizers predicted as many as 400,000 people could attend.
After the last pick was announced on Saturday, the NFL reported a record 775,000 people made it inside the draft footprint.
“In Detroit, we saw they had a beautiful weekend, some really nice afternoons and evenings, and that drew in people from nearby,” said Aaron Popkey, director of public affairs for the Green Bay Packers.
Even after seeing the crowds in Detroit, Green Bay’s draft organizers have kept their attendance projection at about 240,000 people.
“I think that if you’re a football fan, this is your reason to go to draft, because you get to do two things,” said Jon Barker, NFL senior vice president of global event operations and production. “You get to come to the NFL Draft, which hands down is one of the greatest events ever, but you also get a reason to come to Green Bay and go to Lambeau Field. I think that it’s almost a pilgrimage of football.”
Barker oversees the production of the NFL’s tentpole events. This is his seventh draft and said there have not been any challenges in planning for Green Bay’s draft, even through it is the NFL’s smallest market.
“It goes back to the fact, and that’s the beauty of draft, it’s the beauty of Super Bowl. Everything is adaptable. Everything is malleable. Everything is changeable. We don’t put draft in a box and say this is draft and bring it to you and open it up and take it out and go here’s draft. We come to the city and think, ‘How do we produce a draft for this city?’”
Barker, and other local organizers, agree that weather will decide if attendance is below or above expectations.
The NFL tracks attendance with its One Pass app. The draft is free to attend, but people have to register using the app.
A majority of draft attendees drive to the event. In 2021, when the draft was in Cleveland, 69% of people came from a drivable market. Two years ago in Kansas City, it was 57%.
About two-thirds of attendees stay in hotels — 64% in both Cleveland and Kansas City.
“I really think, given that it is a free event, we’ll see people make that commitment to come much closer than we’re used to as far as gameday,” said Brad Toll, Discover Green Bay’s president and CEO. “We all know when the schedule comes out, people are planning the entire season. That’s not the case for an event like this.”
A search of Booking.com shows 88% of hotels in Green Bay are unavailable the night before the draft starts. The average price of the available rooms when searching for four people is $788.
In Appleton, 78% of hotels are unavailable. The average price of those available is $421.
In Oshkosh, a search of Booking.com doesn’t show a percentage of hotels that are unavailable — likely meaning stock isn’t as scarce. The average price is $255 for the available rooms.
Booking.com shows unavailability and price are both higher on the prime Thursday night of the draft, which is typically the most attended night. In Green Bay, 92% of the hotels are unavailable. The average price of rooms listed is $988.
In Appleton, the rate is also 92% unavailable with average price at $564.
In Oshkosh, 81% of hotels are unavailable, with the average price of those available at $395.
Toll says he’s confident all hotels, including surrounding areas, will fill up by the time the draft comes.
“They manage that no different than a game day,” said Toll. “As it gets closer and closer, you fill the last rooms you have available.”
At the end of December, the average price of six available hotels in Appleton was between $400 and $504 a night between Wednesday and Saturday of draft week.
Six weeks later, the average price for the same hotels has gone up for Thursday and Friday. It went down for Wednesday and stayed the same for Saturday.
Toll says he’d recommend people renting out their homes stay steady on asking price.
“It’s just a matter of watching the market, seeing what is selling, what isn’t and adjusting accordingly as it gets closer,” said Toll.
