The Denver Broncos have submitted a bid for Denver to host the 2020 NFL Draft.
In hopes of securing an event that would be a great win for the city of Denver, the Broncos' president and CEO Joe Ellis has moved forward with the application process to host the NFL Draft, to be held in April of 2020.We’ve put in an application for 2020, and that may or may not come to fruition depending on how the league feels about when they’re going to honor 100th season," Ellis told The Denver Post. "We believe it would be a great thing for the city, a great thing for Colorado, a great thing for this Rocky Mountain region. It would draw a lot of people and would be a really fun event.”Ellis also noted that should Denver not be selected to host the 2020 draft, then they will try again for 2021, 2022, or 2023. They had previously considered applying for the hosting honor in past years, but scheduling conflicts had prevented them from moving forward. The draft would most likely occur at the Colorado Convention Center. [caption id="attachment_23226" align="aligncenter" width="420"]
Image courtesy of denverconvention.com[/caption]
For many years (since 1965, in fact), the NFL Draft was merely "a stuffy meeting in a hotel ballroom in New York City." Then, starting in 2006, organizers moved the event to the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, which was (annoyingly) overrun with Jets fans. But in 2015, due to a scheduling conflict, Chicago took over hosting duties, followed by a repeat year in 2016. Then Philadelphia got its chance this past April for the 2017 event.
As a result, the change in venues has seemed to breathe new life into the draft.
When we left New York, we really found out that this was a great opportunity to engage more fans," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told the NFL Network earlier this year. "And now I think we're going to continue to move it around."It will undoubtedly be a couple of years before we learn whether or not Denver will win hosting rights, but our fingers are crossed! The host city for next April's 2018 NFL draft has still not been announced, though Dallas and Philadelphia are both considered favorites.
What do you think? What kind if impact could hosting the draft have on Denver's economy? Tell us in the comments below!
