• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

(Photo Credit: Bobby O’Hara/ PuresportsNY)

The NFL Draft which has been a staple in NYC for the past 50 years, until last year, when it was temporarily moved to Chicago. Now it looks to be official that Chicago will be home to the Draft for the foreseeable future.

Chicago, which played host for the first time in more than 50 years will hold the 2016 NFL Draft from April 28-30 for the second year in a row. League Commissioner Rodger Goodell was very impressed in the city’s audition last spring.

“We’re coming back to Chicago for the draft in 2016,” Goodell said. “They’ve earned it. The success we had last year set a new bar for the draft, it set a new opportunity for fans to interact with the NFL. It had a tremendous impact on this community.”

The draft attracted 200,000 fans, many of whom filled Grant Park for the interactive outdoor fan festival known as “Draft Town” that the NFL promises to make even bigger in 2016.

I can tell you first hand after experiencing the draft in New York for years and then visiting Chicago for the draft last year that Chicago did it better. This is coming from someone who has enjoyed the draft in New York and the waiting on line the night before every year.

What made the draft such a success in Chicago was the fact that even though the auditorium wasn’t nearly as big as Radio City, the way that “Draft Town” was set up in Grant Park made the experience far and beyond just sitting in Radio City waiting for your team to pick. Each team had it’s own tent making it a great place to meet other fans from out of town and even the NFL Network was set up in Draft Town as well.

Although the exact location of the draft is yet to be officially announced, the space that Chicago has to utilize for such a growing event just beats out the competition. New York has had the event for years and it just seems like it’s time to move on.

The one thing great thing about New York holding the draft has always been the diversity of fans just living in the area. Because it has never been a huge trip for fans out of state to come to the amount of different fans in the Tri-State area has always made the NYC NFL Draft the greatest. Even though Chicago didn’t have that kind of diversity in the area, hopefully with the event growing more people will be willing to travel to Chicago in the future for the NFL Draft.

Lastly if planning on attending the 2016 Draft, the amount of Mike Ditka’s you’ll see on your trip will have you questioning if you actually encountered the man himself.

By Bobby O’Hara/ PureSportsNY

By Bobby O'Hara

Bobby is a graduate of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting where he studied TV, Radio, and Journalism. Growing up in New Jersey, he is a hometown guy who loves the local fans’ passion for the game. Bobby currently covers football for PureSportsNY. Graduating with awards in both audio and video production, Bobby also produces video and graphics.

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