Chicago mayor wants the NFL draft in the Windy City

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 9, 2014, 11:03 AM EST
Reuters

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made some noises about getting a Super Bowl at Soldier Field, but that’s not the only major NFL event he wants to host.

Emanuel told David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune that he would like to bring the NFL draft to town as well.

“I would say that there are two things in pro football I would love to see in Chicago, either one of them or both: the NFL draft and the Super Bowl,” Emanuel said. “They have different advantages for the city given that we have neither one, both would be great attractions for the city to bring national attention. We’ll work on both.”

Emanuel didn’t go into any details, but he suggested that he has already spoken with the NFL about bringing the draft on the road. So far the NFL hasn’t shown a lot of interest in taking the draft out of New York City, but moving it around the NFL could attract even more interest to what is already the NFL’s biggest offseason event. If the league decides to take the draft on the road, Chicago would be a good choice.

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31 responses to “Chicago mayor wants the NFL draft in the Windy City”

  3. I will start off by admitting I am a Chicago Bear fan. That being said, Emanuel needs to pipe down. IF the NFL took the draft on the road, and WHY would they , then they should take it to the NFL cities , including Chicago. As for a Super Bowl in Soldier Field , ARE YOU INSANE ?? It is , by far, the worst field in the NFL and possible pro sports. The footing is terrible, even on good days . Chicago’s politics gets in the way of modernizing their sports stadiums, look at what is happening at Wrigley Field, and the Cubs are footing the entire bill !! Cellular One Park , where the White Sox play has little development , and that was built across the street from old Comiskey . Even United Stadium , where the Bulls and Blackhawks play lacks development and looks more of a war zone than anything else. Then this idiot wants to bring a SUPER BOWL to Chicago???

  4. It’s always dangerous when a politician wants to be the center of NFL events. This guy seems like he’s got a lot of love for the sport. That’s great. However, Chicago has a lot of issues that need to be fixed before he starts getting chummy chummy with the NFL.

  5. Take the show on the road. Every city should get the opportunity to see how Seattle owns the draft year after year. Let other cities be blessed to witness the greatest talent evaluators in the league, and the shrewdest GM manipulate the draft and teams over and over again

  6. they should do the draft like they do with the superbowl, let it go to a different city each year

  9. Draft should go on the road.

    We don’t need the tradition of hearing Jets rubes every year after a crap decision by management.

    Hopefully, if they move it, the 1920’s style chant (gimme a J……..what’s that spell?) can stay in Jersey.

  11. Just so long as they have the right venue for it. I don’t think Chicago has a concert hall as Radio City, but there is always McCormick Place and United Center, among others.

  13. I think moving the draft is a great idea. New York insisted on sharing the Super Bowl with more logical warm weather/ indoor facilities so now I say share the draft.

  14. I’m all for rotating the NFL Draft among all the NFL cities. Any major arena could comfortably hold the event.

    Just leave Chris Berman at home.

  15. Having the Super Bowl in Chicago and Soldier Field having a bad playing surface is the least of their concerns. They’d fix that issue before the game started.

    Their issue is the stadium being way too small to host the event. That’s the #1 key issue.

    Logistically Chicago is laid out probably better than any other NFL city to host a Super Bowl. Something like 65% of the hotel rooms that would be used would be within a 20 minute walk.

  16. Yes, that sounds like a great idea. Let’s put the Superbowl in a city where the most corrupt political mafia in the country controls everything. Next thing you know, Putin is going to want the Olympics in Sochi. Brilliant.

  17. I eould be great to have a super bowl in chicago the crappy feild makes it more better I want real games in a super bowl domes and games in 80 degree weather aint what real football is about its the cold the hard frozen grown hard hits lets get back to the game the way it was ment to be and stop whitj all the new rule changes let them hit let them get hammered bear down

  19. The draft should be in LA until an NFL teams comes to LA. Also a rookie vs sophmore game should be played and can tour around in all the major cities no matter what the temperature is. Pro Bowl is fine in Hawaii.

  20. All this country needs is more exposure to how bad Gotham city is becoming. Murders, gangs, organized crime (err local govt).

    Really bad idea. I don’t even like a one hour layover there anymore.

  21. Yeah, this is a great idea!

    In between picks they could report on gang violence and political corruption.

  22. You know, this isn’t a bad idea actually. Why should New York ALWAYS be the draft site?

    Cities argue for the Super Bowl for the money that it brings right? Well, why should New York get that income every year automatically?

    If the draft was in Dallas, I’d pay a good deal for tickets there. And I’m sure all of us would at least consider taking our loved ones to such a great sports experience. Imagine saying “I was there when the Houston Texans selected (insert name) as the top pick in the draft”

  23. Yeah lets move the SB and draft to the city known for poisoning a visiting Steelers fan with toxic grain alcohol and holding up a sign mocking Katrina victims when they hosted the Saints just a year after the storm. I am sure fans of the other 31 teams will love having to take out extra life insurance to wear their jersey.

  25. They should hold the draft in every city mentioned in the song “Heart of Rock and Roll.” 🙂

  27. The dry air is bad for Kiper’s hair.

    P.S. As long as London isn’t in the rotation, I’m down with watching it on TV from anywhere in the U.S.

  29. For one, the city of Chicago doesn’t have governors, and for two, what does that have to do with anything?

  30. The only issue I see is those fat slobs in Jets jerseys that hang out in the rafters and boo every Jets draft pick loudly (rightfully so, usually) in between boatloads of chicken wings and many sixers of PBR. Would Goodell be willing to spring for bus tickets to bring them all to Chicago? Seems the right thing to do.

  31. I would look at it one of two ways: Either the team with the first pick in the draft gets to host the event, or you rotate it to all NFL cities in a lottery-style drawing, where once your city is picked, you drop out until all 32 are complete.

    The only drawback with the #1 pick city is that you have the potential for a single city to host more than once in a short amount of time. I don’t think any team has had the #1 pick overall more than 3 times in the last 15 years, but even that means the draft ends up in the same place 3 times over a time frame.

    The other thing you could do is alternate the cities between AFC and NFC each year. Green Bay is really the only city that might not have the framework to pull it off, but there’s nothing that says you can’t do it in Milwaukee, especially when you consider the Pack used to play games there every season.

    The NFL could sell tickets, and it would be a nice improvement to not see the same people in the crowd every year

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