NFL awards annual NFL Draft to Philadelphia

The NFL Draft hasn’t been in New York for two years now and it won’t be there for a third as the NFL today announced a new city will hold the honor.

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Is hosting the NFL Draft a privilege or an honor? I suppose it depends on who you ask. Two years ago the NFL citing a scheduling conflict with the previous New York venue. The success the NFL had in Chicago has promted them to stay out of New York again this year.

Today the NFL and the city of Philadelphia announced that the annual event will be held in the “City of Brotherly Love”. Which means there won’t be much love being called out when the Giants are on the clock.

The NFL held the draft in New York for 50 years (not all of course televised) but Chicago turned the annual selection process into a weekend party. Philadelphia will now be challenged with taking it a step further.

Cities around the United States could begin jockeying for the draft if Philly can bring together a three day event that is worthy of keeping it out of New York. Chicago did very well and really the only thing that was lackluster about the three day event was the network coverage by ESPN and NFL Network.

It’s not unlikely that next years draft could take place somewhere on the West Coast. Football has returned to Los Angeles and a new stadium is planned for the Raiders. In the South, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would like the draft to be held in their stadium or at their new training complex.

While the draft is nowhere near as popular as the Super Bowl it has become a major annual event that fans and media earmark for travel. It’s one of the more watched events in the NFL and often surpasses many regular season games viewing numbers.