Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. . .because you have. . .but the National Football League’s biggest off-season event could be coming to the Twin Cities in the very near future.
According to the Minnesota Vikings’ official website, Minnesota Sports and Events has announced that it has officially submitted a bid to host the 2028 NFL Draft in partnership with the Vikings and U.S. Bank Stadium.
While the Vikings’ home stadium would almost certainly serve as the anchor for the event, Matt Meunier,
the Executive Vice President of Business Development and Tourism for Minnesota Sports and Events, envisions the event as having a truly regional feel.
“In terms of the location of the draft, the red carpet and all the ancillary events that go with hosting the draft, all those things are under evaluation by the league right now, so it’s to be determined, but what we can say is TCO Performance Center is a really viable option,” Meunier said. “Flag football, youth football is going to continue to be more prominent as it relates to the NFL and leaning into 2028 and the L.A. [Olympic] Games, so there’s potential to stage some youth football and community legacy events out at TCO Performance Center, but in addition to that, every event Minnesota Sports and Events hosts, we’re really intentional about staging events throughout the region and not just downtown [Minneapolis].”
Should the Twin Cities be selected for the event, it would complete the cycle of all four NFC North cities serving as host since the Draft moved away from being held in New York City every year. Chicago hosted the Draft in both 2015 and 2016, Detroit served as host in 2024, and the Draft was held in Green Bay last year.
This year’s NFL Draft will be held next month in Pittsburgh, while Washington, D.C. will play host to the 2027 NFL Draft.
As the article from the Vikings’ website notes, the draft in Detroit brought in fans from all 50 states and 20 foreign countries, generating an economic impact of over $200 million for the greater Detroit area. Surely Minneapolis/St. Paul can do better than that, right?
Right?
It is unknown when the announcement of where the 2028 NFL Draft will be hosted will be made or which other cities are competing for the opportunity, but hopefully the Twin Cities will get their opportunity to serve as host.
