2023 NFL Draft will be ‘one of the biggest events in the history of Kansas City’

Kansas City was awarded the 2023 NFL Draft on Wednesday and it wasn’t long until city officials were praising the potential economic impact of the three-day event.

After years of attempts that landed the region among the finalists to host the NFL Draft, Kansas City was finally awarded the 2023 NFL Draft in an announcement on Wednesday after owners approved the next couple sites during recent spring meetings in Key Biscayne, Florida.

Kansas City had been mentioned as a finalist in previous drafts, but failed to secure any event as they watched other cities end up winning the bid. Nashville won the event for 2019, while K.C. also lost out to Dallas in 2018. On Wednesday, they received the news they’ve been anticipating for some time and they’re not the only city celebrating. The city of Cleveland was also excited to hear they’d won the right to host the 2021 NFL Draft, two years before K.C.

The city of Nashville went all out a few weeks ago to host the NFL Draft and their hard work paid off. Over 600,000 flocked to the area to visit downtown Nashville, and the resulting economic impact was significant. The festivities generated well over $10.5 million in taxes and fees alone, and the Tennesseean reported direct spending resulted in over $130 million.

Not only does the draft bring people for that single weekend, which helps bolster the area’s tourism industry in a major way, it also shines an important spotlight on what a city offers for potential tourists or even future residents. The record-breaking coverage of this year’s NFL Draft played up Nashville’s strengths to great effect, and the city was wise in tying in the draft in myriad ways in and around town. Musicians populated the stage on multiple occasions, and b-roll footage often showed Nashville’s nightlife throughout the three days of coverage.

On Thursday, Kansas City Mayor Sly James held a press conference to discuss the coming event and said it will be “one of the biggest events in the history of this city.”

Both Kathy Nelson and Chiefs team president Mark Donovan detailed some of the work involved to get to this point.

You can see the future NFL Draft site banner is already hanging in Union Station where much of the draft will be held in conjunction with the National WWI Museum and Memorial.