Pittsburgh will be watching as Green Bay gets ready for 2025 NFL Draft
While Pittsburgh has a little more than a year until the NFL Draft comes to the Steel City, Green Bay, Wisconsin, is getting ready for the draft next week.
Before Pittsburgh's North Shore can be where dreams come true for college players, Green Bay gets its turn hosting the NFL Draft. It's estimated that 250,000-300,000 people will attend, and 55 million people will be watching.
"Try and buy that three-day commercial. The NFL Draft, it's a great investment," Discovery Green Bay President and CEO Brad Toll said.
Toll said a regional and state effort helped get the city to where it is now. To safely put on an event like the draft, officials have had help from local, county, state and federal law enforcement, and they have plans for just about any weather that could play a factor.
"We are completely ready. We are totally confident in the work that they've done," Toll said.
According to Toll, the NFL tries to make each draft unique to its location and sprinkle in some of the local flavor.
"What people will see in Green Bay this year will be completely different than what they see in Pittsburgh next year," Toll said on Zoom.
Toll said the benefits move beyond just that weekend. Already, they have been able to leverage the draft to get other events. Materials used for the draft, like furniture, fencing, and carpeting, are given back to the host city as well.
"We've connected them with a lot of our nonprofits that will be able to reuse those things. So, they are very focused on sustainability," Toll said.
Leaders in Pittsburgh are sending a draft contingency to Green Bay to see how things work and how the Steel City can implement processes in 2026
