With organizers estimating more than $100 million in economic activity for the state of Wisconsin, this year’s NFL draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin, could have the largest per capita economic impact for any city since the NFL took the event on the road a decade ago.
According to the 2020 census, Green Bay’s population is 107,000 people — the NFL’s smallest market. While a typical game day will attract more than 80,000 fans to Lambeau Field, the NFL draft is expected to draw more than three times that figure for several days. The 2024 NFL draft in Detroit set an attendance record with 775,000.
What can that mean for a host city?
“[It] brought in $161 million [from out-of-town visitors] just for that weekend to Detroit,” Austan Goolsbee, the president of the Chicago Federal Reserve whose region includes Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana and Illinois, told ESPN. “Now we’re going to be in Green Bay. They’re still going to have close to a quarter-million people. And for a small town like Green Bay, this is a real shot in the arm.”
The Greater Green Bay Chamber estimates the state of Wisconsin will take in $94 million while Brown County will top $20 million.
“As I look at the draft, the first economic indicator I’m looking at is who are the Bears getting at No. 10,” joked Goolsbee, a fan of the team who has a framed picture of Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton in his office. “Then second, we want to see what’s the attendance, what are the TV ratings and what kind of interest does it generate?”
Visit Detroit, the tourism arm of the city, said total economic activity related to the draft topped $213 million — with $161.3 million of that being generated from visitors who came from outside the area.
“I’ve talked to businesspeople in Detroit where the Chicago Fed has a branch,” Goolsbee told ESPN. “They say [the draft] actually was a fundamental building block of their rebuilding renaissance of downtown Detroit.”
For an economist like Goolsbee, who is dealing with weighty issues like monetary policy amid new tariffs and an uncertain financial environment, the NFL draft — and sports as a business — has been a bright spot as fans seek out beloved teams, irrespective of economic downturns.
“Compared to before COVID started, sports have been growing three to four times faster than the overall economy,” Goolsbee said. “So if you’re sitting there watching the draft and your boss is pinging you, ‘Where are you? I need the report.’ You say, ‘Hey, I’m doing my part trying to power the recovery in this country.’
“Because these spectators — sports and entertainment — they’re not just important for your fantasy league team. They’re actually quite important for the regional economy in the Midwest and around the nation.”
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