WISCONSIN (WFRV) — Although the NFL Draft is set to pour money into local businesses, municipal governments are not likely to make much, if any, from the draft.
For the city of Green Bay, there is a good chance the draft will result in an overall loss due to security expenses. Still, there were no second thoughts about hosting the draft, Mayor Eric Genrich said, noting that all components were fully committed.
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“For us, it’s not really a financial benefit for the city organization. It’s a major financial obligation we’re taking on. We’re glad to do it because of the community benefits that I think are going to be accrued,” Genrich said. “There really wasn’t any hesitation. We knew this was a big undertaking, a big responsibility for our police and fire departments.”
The big responsibility comes with national attention for the city and all that it has to offer—something Genrich hopes will have a lasting impact.
“This is going to be a multi-day commercial essentially for Greater Green Bay and for Wisconsin. And so we’re really looking forward to seizing that opportunity to show off everything that Green Bay has to offer,” Genrich said. “If even a small portion of those folks seriously consider relocating to Green Bay or Brown County, I think that would be a huge win for us.”
Because the county generates revenue from sales tax—not the city—the only substantial funds Green Bay will likely recoup are through parking fees.
“We might see a little bit of additional parking revenue, especially in our downtown ramps,” Genrich said. “We’re going to be advertising them and offering people through our transit system connections to get out to Lambeau.”
The NFL has previously said that it has been prioritizing the Super Bowl and will then turn its full attention to the draft. The delays have caused bouts of worry locally, but Genrich is placing full trust in the league’s system, as well as his own security team, which operates similarly during Packers game days.
“Their schedule of things is a little bit different than ours might be, but they’ve got a tried-and-true method. They focus on all of their events with a particular timeline,” Genrich said. “Having that kind of system, that collaborative approach [on game days], really puts a lot of us at ease.”
For other cities, however, the NFL Draft is an entirely new event. Less than an hour north, the city of Marinette has funds set aside from a hotel room tax that will allow its hotels to shuttle guests to the draft each day while getting reimbursed.
“If the hotels decide to use buses, we will reimburse them for that. So people come here, they stay here, we bring them down and bring them back,” Marinette Director of Tourism and Marketing Shawn Katzbeck said. “The best thing that we can do is eliminate the drive time and the driving, and just get them down to the draft and pick them up from the draft. We’re just going to tell the hotels, ‘Get a bus, and we will reimburse you. All we need is the invoice sent over, and we’ll pay for it.’”
So far, hotels have been receptive to the idea and are just waiting for guests to start booking.
“Right now it’s a little bit slow is what they’ve told me, but that it’s picking up,” Katzbeck said.
The NFL has been relatively quiet in dealing with communities farther from Green Bay, according to Katzbeck. However, other organizations taking the lead on the draft, such as Discover Green Bay, have been inclusive in organizing press conferences and keeping smaller towns in the loop.
“I kind of wish we had a little bit better communication with [the NFL] just so we could better serve the people who are coming,” Katzbeck said.
Even though it is nearly an hour’s drive north of Titletown, the Marinette area has plenty to offer. City leaders believe that cheaper lodging is the strongest draw to the area.
“Local hotels, restaurants, you name it, benefit, and we’d love to see some tourists come to our area,” Marinette Mayor Steve Genisot said. “We got real excited once we heard Green Bay was selected. And like every other community around Green Bay, we’re all trying to think of creative ways to get people to come visit our community to stay here and then visit the draft, making it convenient for them. I would think you would find our hotels a little bit more economical and yet still close enough.”
In Manitowoc, national events are nothing new for city leaders, as PGA events at Kohler’s Whistling Straits gave them a small taste of what to expect for the draft. Mayor Justin Nickels believes that hotels will be fully booked and says the city is not planning separate events for visitors, as they typically spend most of their time at the main attraction.
“Hotels and Airbnbs and everything will be booked in Manitowoc because it’s 35 minutes from Lambeau Field, right off the interstate,” Nickels said. “We found out that they spend most of their day at the golf course, and they just want to go out to eat or do this, so having some big thing in Manitowoc didn’t really make sense for the PGA.”
An hour and 15 minutes from Green Bay, the city of Waupaca is similarly considering what its shuttle structure to and from the draft campus would look like. Officials say they have been in contact with leaders in other cities, especially in Green Bay, as they work out plans.
“If we can make it easier for our guests staying here to get to the draft, we want to help them do that. So that’s how we’re looking to see how we can optimize that or make it easier for our guests as we get a little bit closer to the event,” Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce, Visitors Bureau and Foundation President and CEO Jeff Anderson said. “Conversations have been regular, and it’s easy to reach out and hear what others are experiencing, so that’s been a great experience for us.”
Despite the longer drive, Anderson expects Waupaca and the surrounding area to thrive, noting the variety of establishments ready to welcome out-of-town visitors.
“We have a lot to offer in terms of service, restaurants, and retail shops,” Anderson said. “April is traditionally a quieter time of year for us. We see a lot of activity in the summertime, especially around the Chain O’ Lakes, but it tends to be one of our quieter months. So the impact of the draft could be filling hotel rooms, private rentals, and BnBs, and potentially even campgrounds.”
Back in Green Bay, Genrich has one major hope for draft week.
“I’ll be hoping we got some good weather, and then hoping that everybody was safe and had a good time and really enjoyed themselves here in Green Bay,” he said. “It can serve as a proof of concept for us to host in the future.”
Genrich is already looking ahead, floating the idea of bringing the draft back to Titletown or even hosting other large-scale events.
“We’d love to be on the NFL’s regular schedule of drafts, 5–10 years down the line, to be able to welcome something like this back,” Genrich said. “I know Formula 1 is something that they rotate around a little bit, but I can’t think of another event on the scale of an NFL Draft.”
