NFL To Host 2017 Draft In Philadelphia?

Update:

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the NFL has no agreements with any city regarding who will host the 2017 NFL Draft.

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Pennsylvania congressman Bob Brady mentioned in a phone interview that the 2017 NFL Draft will be held in Philadephia.

“The NFL wanted to come here, which is a good start,” Brady explained during the interview, via Philly.com. “I talked with the mayor. The mayor had a concern about money because he didn’t want to put the city in debt, rightfully so, so we had to go around and see if we could get some people that would help finance it and I think we were kind of successful.

“We’ve been dealing with this for the past couple of weeks, maybe three weeks, and [Kenney] just called me this afternoon and told me that we got the NFL, that the city is going to do it and he feels comfortable that the people who said they were going to help raise the money are going to do it.

“I think it’s going to be great for the city,” Brady said. “We are going to showcase the city for the whole country again, and we’ll have thousands of visitors coming in here and all the players, all sports teams and all the coaches and managers will all be around. It will be great. It’s a big deal. It’s astounding. Just like with the [Democratic] convention, all the hotels will be booked, all the restaurants will be filled, for a three-day event.”

While Brady makes it seem like a done deal, Kenney spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said in an email Thursday that the city has not agreed to host the event as of now.

“I can’t speak for the Congressman, but I can tell you that the City has definitely not been awarded the draft,” Hitt wrote.

Las we heard, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported back in April that Philadelphia had emerged as “leading candidate” to host 2017 NFL Draft along with Los Angeles.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed Philadelphia’s interest, but added other cities were in the mix as well.

“I know they’re interested in it,” Goodell said then. “And we’re interested in Philadelphia, but among the other cities. We’ve got a lot of interest. We want to sit down after we’re done and see what the best decision is for the NFL.”

The NFL has made it clear that the draft would not be returning to Chicago, despite the fact that it’s been held there each year since the league decided to take it on the road.

It’s hardly a surprise that the NFL is looking at other cities, as this creates a bidding situation for the event, which should lead to even more revenue for the league.

Los Angeles figures to get the event at some point now that the Rams have relocated to the market and are building a new stadium.

We’ll have more regarding Philadelphia hosting the 2017 draft as the news is available.