Update:
The NFL announced Thursday that the 2017 draft will, in fact, be held in Philadelphia on April 27-29.
“Philadelphia is a passionate football town and will serve as a tremendous backdrop for the Draft and provide a great atmosphere for our fans and incoming players,” said Goodell. “Jeffery Lurie has been a strong advocate and supporter of the draft on behalf of the City of Philadelphia throughout the entire selection process. We look forward to working with the Philadelphia Eagles, the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) to create a week-long celebration of football for our fans.”
“On behalf of the City and our legion of Philadelphia Eagles fans, we’re proud to be chosen as host city for the 2017 NFL Draft,” said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. “We are excited to showcase Philadelphia and our passion for football, and fully expect an awesome experience for all those attending in 2017 and for those watching at home. I’m thankful for the incredible team at the NFL and the Philadelphia CVB for making this happen.”
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ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the NFL will announce Thursday that Philadelphia will host the 2017 NFL draft.
This fits with a report from a month ago that Philadelphia was the top choice to host the event, so the news shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
The NFL released the dates for the 2017 draft last month, which will be held on April 27-29.
Pennsylvania congressman Bob Brady mentioned in a phone interview a month ago that the 2017 Draft will be held in Philadelphia.
“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.”
The NFL decided 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.
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