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When I moved to Green Bay in 1992, Brett Favre, Mike Holmgren and I were all newbies. Lambeau Field's capacity was just over 60,000, counting club seats and boxes. The stadium was surrounded by a green, corrugated metal fence. The Packers Pro Shop was the size of a closet and the whole of the team's offices could probably fit in the Packers Hall of Fame Museum in the Lambeau Field Atrium. Few could have imagined, including me, the complex that welcomed the NFL draft this past week.
The Packers, in chasing the draft, pushed hard on their place in NFL history. That kind of thing seems to resonate with the business-savvy league.
But history alone would not have gotten the draft and its hundreds of thousands of fans to Green Bay. The team's more than $1 billion worth of investment in Lambeau Field and Titletown, which didn't yet exist even in 2016, mattered, too. As did the whole Resch Center complex, which also did not exist when I moved here, so kudos to Brown County and the PMI Entertainment Group, which manages the Resch. The NFL recognized that mile-long complex was as good as any in the NFL for hosting the draft.
The "Green Bay will never get the draft" and "Green Bay can't successfully host the draft" crowd could understandably feel self-conscious after this weekend.
As millions know by now, Green Bay (Ashwaubenon, Brown County) did get the 2025 NFL Draft and indeed succeeded as hosts. With attendance of 600,000 fans, it smashed the conservative three-day estimate of 250,000.
Draft promoters, Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy and Discover Green Bay CEO Brad Toll in particular, were persistent in talking about how the draft would be three days and more of free advertisements for Green Bay, which will translate to continued business for years to come. And indeed, the NFL said Round 1 coverage was seen by an average audience of 13.6 million viewers, up 11% over Round 1 in Detroit last year. (Memo to Lions President Rod Wood, who gracelessly dissed Green Bay last week).
It was the second most-watched Day 1 on record, behind only 2020, which means it was the most-watched NFL draft ever under normal circumstances, because 2020 was the COVID year and the only way you could see the draft was on television or by streaming.
The draft demonstrated governance we came to expect for 230-plus years, before partisan warfare all but destroyed compromise and collaboration at nearly all levels. The county's various governmental entities worked together toward a common goal without regard to underlying tensions, such as exist between the city of Green Bay and the Packers over the Lambeau Field lease, or between the city and Brown County over the coal piles on the Fox River. The draft could not have been pulled off without collaboration from everyone, and by all accounts that's what happened.
Naysayers and doubters predicted traffic issues would tie up the city for decades. I exaggerate, but they were pretty vexed. It was said Green Bay, Ashwaubenon, the rest of the county could not handle crowds twice the city's size over three days. Well, if the NFL's numbers are accurate, they not only handled much larger attendance, but if you didn't have to make your way to Interstate 41 to leave, which understandably did take some patience, getting around town was not onerous. In fact, I've never gotten to a stadium-area parking place as fast on game days. Instead of converging on Lambeau Field itself, traffic was dispersed and maybe that made a difference. I can imagine myself in October saying, "Gosh, I miss the draft," while creeping along South Ridge Road toward a Packers' parking lot.
[IMG alt="Green Bay Packers fans boo as the Chicago Bears go on the clock during the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The draft runs through April 26.
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/milwauke...es_362/facb8937001210c4a9fcdca2431b90f2[/IMG]
The draft predictions weren't perfect. Early reports are that draft attendees maybe did not spread out and spend their money across the community as much as would be hoped. Downtown events, such as the Draft City Music Fest, were well-attended, but maybe by mostly local folks, which doesn't have the same economic impact.
It seems the NFL was efficient at keeping people inside its campus, so until we have the chance after this weekend to survey businesses, we don't really know if and where the impact was experienced.
It is more likely that property owners around the campus benefited some. Parking cars was expected to be big business, probably even at $100 a pop, but prices were dropping on the second day of the draft. I saw visitors parking on the street near the Morris Avenue and Ashland Avenue intersection, which was more than a mile from the nearest campus entrance.
An economic impact survey will follow the draft and be released in a couple of months. That should be revealing. Estimates were the impact would be $94 million statewide and $20 million locally. It would be disappointing if those weren't higher, given the reported attendance numbers.
To all of the fans I talked to over the three days, Green Bay made a good impression. Some were Packers fans who'd been to Green Bay before, others were first-timers or fans of other teams.
I overhead one fan saying, "I've done nine of these and this is the best organized. It comes down to the quality of the people."
"This is cool. It's a totally different world," said Packers season ticket holder Jake Dedering of Oshkosh, who was no stranger to Lambeau Field.
"Will I come back? Absolutely," said Doug Butch, a Los Angeles Chargers fan who visited for the first time, and who declared the Green Bay draft better than Detroit in 2024.
But now it's over, and for the first time since it was announced that Green Bay would indeed host the 2025 draft, those of us who've lived under it's shadow will go to work Monday trying to figure out what we did before May 25, 2023, to fill our hours. Maybe the Packers will go to — not host, never host — the Super Bowl in February.
Contact Richard Ryman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay proves skeptics wrong, pulls off big win with 2025 NFL Draft
Continue reading...
The Packers, in chasing the draft, pushed hard on their place in NFL history. That kind of thing seems to resonate with the business-savvy league.
But history alone would not have gotten the draft and its hundreds of thousands of fans to Green Bay. The team's more than $1 billion worth of investment in Lambeau Field and Titletown, which didn't yet exist even in 2016, mattered, too. As did the whole Resch Center complex, which also did not exist when I moved here, so kudos to Brown County and the PMI Entertainment Group, which manages the Resch. The NFL recognized that mile-long complex was as good as any in the NFL for hosting the draft.
The "Green Bay will never get the draft" and "Green Bay can't successfully host the draft" crowd could understandably feel self-conscious after this weekend.
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As millions know by now, Green Bay (Ashwaubenon, Brown County) did get the 2025 NFL Draft and indeed succeeded as hosts. With attendance of 600,000 fans, it smashed the conservative three-day estimate of 250,000.
Draft promoters, Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy and Discover Green Bay CEO Brad Toll in particular, were persistent in talking about how the draft would be three days and more of free advertisements for Green Bay, which will translate to continued business for years to come. And indeed, the NFL said Round 1 coverage was seen by an average audience of 13.6 million viewers, up 11% over Round 1 in Detroit last year. (Memo to Lions President Rod Wood, who gracelessly dissed Green Bay last week).
It was the second most-watched Day 1 on record, behind only 2020, which means it was the most-watched NFL draft ever under normal circumstances, because 2020 was the COVID year and the only way you could see the draft was on television or by streaming.
The draft demonstrated governance we came to expect for 230-plus years, before partisan warfare all but destroyed compromise and collaboration at nearly all levels. The county's various governmental entities worked together toward a common goal without regard to underlying tensions, such as exist between the city of Green Bay and the Packers over the Lambeau Field lease, or between the city and Brown County over the coal piles on the Fox River. The draft could not have been pulled off without collaboration from everyone, and by all accounts that's what happened.
Naysayers and doubters predicted traffic issues would tie up the city for decades. I exaggerate, but they were pretty vexed. It was said Green Bay, Ashwaubenon, the rest of the county could not handle crowds twice the city's size over three days. Well, if the NFL's numbers are accurate, they not only handled much larger attendance, but if you didn't have to make your way to Interstate 41 to leave, which understandably did take some patience, getting around town was not onerous. In fact, I've never gotten to a stadium-area parking place as fast on game days. Instead of converging on Lambeau Field itself, traffic was dispersed and maybe that made a difference. I can imagine myself in October saying, "Gosh, I miss the draft," while creeping along South Ridge Road toward a Packers' parking lot.
[IMG alt="Green Bay Packers fans boo as the Chicago Bears go on the clock during the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The draft runs through April 26.
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/milwauke...es_362/facb8937001210c4a9fcdca2431b90f2[/IMG]
The draft predictions weren't perfect. Early reports are that draft attendees maybe did not spread out and spend their money across the community as much as would be hoped. Downtown events, such as the Draft City Music Fest, were well-attended, but maybe by mostly local folks, which doesn't have the same economic impact.
It seems the NFL was efficient at keeping people inside its campus, so until we have the chance after this weekend to survey businesses, we don't really know if and where the impact was experienced.
It is more likely that property owners around the campus benefited some. Parking cars was expected to be big business, probably even at $100 a pop, but prices were dropping on the second day of the draft. I saw visitors parking on the street near the Morris Avenue and Ashland Avenue intersection, which was more than a mile from the nearest campus entrance.
An economic impact survey will follow the draft and be released in a couple of months. That should be revealing. Estimates were the impact would be $94 million statewide and $20 million locally. It would be disappointing if those weren't higher, given the reported attendance numbers.
To all of the fans I talked to over the three days, Green Bay made a good impression. Some were Packers fans who'd been to Green Bay before, others were first-timers or fans of other teams.
I overhead one fan saying, "I've done nine of these and this is the best organized. It comes down to the quality of the people."
"This is cool. It's a totally different world," said Packers season ticket holder Jake Dedering of Oshkosh, who was no stranger to Lambeau Field.
"Will I come back? Absolutely," said Doug Butch, a Los Angeles Chargers fan who visited for the first time, and who declared the Green Bay draft better than Detroit in 2024.
But now it's over, and for the first time since it was announced that Green Bay would indeed host the 2025 draft, those of us who've lived under it's shadow will go to work Monday trying to figure out what we did before May 25, 2023, to fill our hours. Maybe the Packers will go to — not host, never host — the Super Bowl in February.
Contact Richard Ryman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay proves skeptics wrong, pulls off big win with 2025 NFL Draft
Continue reading...
