Could Cleveland See an Early Return of the NFL Draft?
Cleveland has shown that it is more than capable of handling some of the largest events in the country. Big ticket events that went through Northeast Ohio with great reviews included the NFL Draft, MLB and NBA All-Star Games, and the RNC.
With regard to the latter, Cleveland, however, didn’t fully obtain what it had agreed to. The globe was still dealing with the effects of a pandemic when the draft arrived at the lakeside in 2021. Due to Covid regulations, the event had to be considerably smaller in scope. The city also had to implement vaccination requirements and fan-only zones, which resulted in a significant decrease in income throughout the weekend.
That may make it possible for Cleveland to host the competition sooner than anybody had anticipated. David Griffin, the president of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, spoke with Jonathan Peterlin on 92.3 The Fan’s Overtime on Tuesday night about the potential at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards. Griffin said that they have already discussed bringing the Draft back to Cleveland with the NFL.
“We’ve asked the NFL directly, because of when the draft was in 2021 and because of Covid we probably had a third of the fans we expected to have based on past drafts,” Griffin said. “While it was fantastic that it occurred, the actual expenditure effect was just $42 million, when it might have easily exceeded $100 million. We have therefore spoken with the NFL directly, and although we didn’t have our desired outcome, I believe that this will be helpful going forward when we explore bringing the draft back to this country as soon as possible.”
Garrett Myles and Joe Flacco headline Several Browns Are Nominated For NFL Honors Awards
Griffin did not go into detail about when the league would think about awarding Cleveland the draft once again. But it seems like Griffin and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission are spearheading the effort to bring back one of the NFL’s biggest events to the city, at the very least.
Hopefully, supporters of the Browns and other attending fan groups will be able to take in the whole NFL Draft experience the next time.Cleveland has shown that it is more than capable of handling some of the largest events in the country.
PER SPENCER GERMAN
Contributing to a number of Northeast Ohio websites, including Browns Digest, Cleveland Baseball Insider, and Cavs Insider, is Spencer German. In addition, he fills in as a host on Cleveland Sports Radio, 92.3 The Fan, a radio affiliate of the Cleveland Browns.
