CLEVELAND — The eyes of the sports world are on Kansas City this week as that city plays host to the NFL Draft. It was a spotlight that just two years ago was on Cleveland. Hosting the NFL Draft has become one of the biggest gets in all of sports behind the Super Bowl and Men's NCAA Basketball Final Four, and not having a dome, Cleveland's not in contention for either of those. So when Cleveland was announced as the host of the 2021 NFL Draft, it was the equivalent of winning the sports golden ticket.
That announcement in 2019 came a month after Nashville played host to the 2019 Draft, which set NFL Draft records at the time for economic impact, $224 million; direct spending at $133 million and attendance with 600,000 people, with more than half coming from out of town staying an average of 2.8 nights in hotels. It was Nashville's third-best month ever in terms of hotel rooms sold. Yes, in 2019, there was great hope in Cleveland.
"In terms of hotel rooms, it will be a lot bigger than the RNC," said Greater Cleveland Sports Commission President and CEO David Gilbert at the time.
Less than ten months later, though, the world shut down because of COVID forcing the 2020 Draft in Las Vegas to be held virtually and the '21 Draft in Cleveland to operate only with a minimal crowd made up of only fully vaccinated fans. The crowds, even for the fan events, were limited to allow for social distancing. The result of the economic impact of the '21 Draft in Cleveland was just $42 million— less than a fifth of Nashville.
Since the NFL ended up giving Las Vegas a second bite at the apple last year for their missed Draft, should they give Cleveland the same opportunity?
"Absolutely," was the response of several people we caught up with on Public Square Thursday. "You know, I think they should; you know everybody deserves a second chance," said another. "When you think football, you think Cleveland, Browns, I mean, it's a Browns town." Levy Williams of Cleveland added, "Cleveland is one of the biggest sports cities in America, yeah we deserve a second chance."
The folks at the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission think so, too, confirming to News 5, "We have officially expressed our interest in hosting a future Draft in Cleveland."
No word, though, on what, if any, specific year they'd be eyeing. Planning is already underway in Detroit for next year's Draft, and the city they beat out for that honor, Green Bay, is hoping to land the one after that.
Looking down the Cleveland Development pipeline, the Lakefront site of the '21 Draft could be impacted by development plans in the works for the stadium and the area north of it. Ahead of the 2021 Draft, the site selection committee also looked at Public Square, the malls above the Convention Center and Public Hall.
