Evers, Packers Welcome NFL Draft to Wisconsin
2025 NFL Draft will be held in Green Bay. At least 250,000 fans expected to attend.
Lambeau Field. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Gov. Tony Evers accepted the handoff of the NFL Draft football in Milwaukee Tuesday.
The event marked the ceremonial passing of the responsibility from the State of Michigan and the Detroit Lions to Wisconsin and the Green Bay Packers for next year’s draft.
The football arrived in Milwaukee Tuesday morning from Michigan via high-speed ferry. Evers accepted the ceremonial handoff at the Lake Express terminal in the Port of Milwaukee. It had traveled from Detroit, which hosted the 2024 NFL draft and had 750,000 people attend.
“Folks, they’ve set a high bar,” Evers said at a press conference Tuesday. “But, guess what, we’re the home of Titletown, we sure the hell aren’t gonna fumble it on our own turf.”
The ball will travel to Green Bay carried by a team of bicyclists in a ceremonial event meant to resemble the Packers training camp tradition when local fans give the players their bikes to ride from the locker room to the practice field.
“We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate the history and the tradition of football as we will at Lambeau Field and in the community in Green Bay Wisconsin,” said Jeff Miller, a senior vice president with the NFL.
Holding the draft in different cities around the country is a new practice for the NFL. Mark Murphy, Packers president and CEO, said the football team lobbied to bring it to the state, and that the event would be a “weeklong commercial for Wisconsin.”
Evers announced the state will be spending $20 million on tourism and providing Green Bay’s local tourism agency $2 million in the leadup to the draft.
It’s expected that at least 250,000 people will attend the draft in Green Bay, Murphy said. With only approximately 4,000 hotel rooms in Green Bay attendees will likely be staying in lodging all over the state, he said, creating a statewide economic impact estimated at $90 million.
“We can’t wait to welcome the draft goers and help them make Wisconsin memories they will never forget,” said Anne Sayers, Wisconsin Tourism Secretary.
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