Chiefs left Wednesday to make pitch to the NFL to hold draft in KC
Kansas City made its pitch to the NFL on Wednesday to host the NFL Draft in 2019 or 2020.
Chiefs president Mark Donovan, city manager Troy Schulte and Kansas City Sports Commission president Kathy Nelson made a 40-minute presentation to an NFL Draft site committee in New York, and spent another 20 minutes responding to questions.
Early morning flight @KCIAirport with @SportKC and @Chiefs to sell @NFL on holding 2019 or 2020 #NFLDraft in #KansasCity!
— KC City Manager (@KCMOManager) November 15, 2017
“It went very well,” Nelson said. “We had a strong presentation, and showed how big a deal it would be to have in our city.”
The NFL Draft has been held in only three cities: New York from 1965 to 2014, Chicago in 2015 and 2016 and Philadelphia earlier this year. The NFL created a 3,000-seat theater on the steps of the Museum of Art for this year’s draft in the City of Brotherly Love.
The 2018 Draft will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Kansas City originally came up with three possible sites but was asked by the NFL to present only one. The group selected Union Station as the headquarters, with the event spreading to the Liberty Memorial and Washington Square Park.
Nelson said Kansas City was one of eight cities bidding for the draft.
According to media reports, the 2017 NFL Draft in Philadelphia attracted 250,000 fans, the most to ever attend what has become a three-day event. Fans spent a sum of $56.1 million during the festivities.
“Any time we can bring a national event to Kansas City, that’s something we want to do,” Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt told The Star in August. “Whether it’s a college football game at Arrowhead or the NFL Draft, which has become one of the biggest properties on TV and a very coveted event for cities across the country.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said earlier this year that he liked moving the draft to different cities.
“When we left New York, we really found out that this was a great opportunity to engage more fans,” Goodell told NFL.com. “And now I think we’re going to continue to move it around.”
Blair Kerkhoff: 816-234-4730, @BlairKerkhoff
Pete Grathoff: 816-234-4330, @pgrathoff
This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 8:06 AM with the headline "Chiefs left Wednesday to make pitch to the NFL to hold draft in KC."