Is The NFL Draft Coming To Minnesota

Word around the league is that Minneapolis-St. Paul is the “clear favorite” to host the 2028 NFL Draft. The NFL’s events committee is scheduled to meet next week to discuss the matter, with an ownership vote expected at their May 19-20 meeting in Orlando. 

In March, the Vikings and Minnesota Sports and Events submitted to the league a bid to host the annual event. The plan had the spectacular US Bank Stadium as the center of the draft weekend with events in St. Paul, the Mall of America, and the Viking Lakes development around the team’s TCO Performance Center in Eagan. 

While Minnesota is “a clear favorite” at the moment, the league’s decision-makers can always spin to another location on a whim. Few things are predictable in the NFL. Fewer things are predictable amongst an exclusive club of rich folks. Seeing as the draft has been held in Chicago (2x), Detroit, and Green Bay during it’s recent travels, it should be held in Minnesota simply to check off all of the NFC North teams. 

The NFL Draft became a nomadic event in 2015. 

2015: Chicago, IL

2016: Chicago, IL

2017: Philadelphia, PA

2018: Arlington, TX

2019: Nashville, TN

2020: Virtual due to the global pandemic

2021: Cleveland, OH

2022: Las Vegas, NV

2023: Kansas City, MO

2024: Detroit, MI

2025: Green Bay, WI

2026: Pittsburgh, PA

2027: Washington DC

2028: Minnesota?

The NFL Draft became a thing in 1936. For the first five decades, it was a barely noticeable thing. For the next couple decades, it was a noticeable thing. For the past three decades, the NFL Draft has become a very big thing. The ridiculous growth of the NFL Draft has been a very curious thing. A movie was even made about the damn thing. 

When the draft went on the road in 2015, it felt new because it had been held in New York City for the previous fifty years. Before becoming a New York staple in 1965, the draft roamed about for thirty years.

Pre-2015 draft locations:

1936: Philadelphia, PA

1937: New York City, NY

1938: Chicago, IL

1939: New York City, NY

1940: Milwaukee, WI

1941: Washington DC

1942-43: Chicago, IL

1944: Philadelphia, PA

1945-47: New York City, NY

1948: Pittsburgh, PA

1949-50: Philadelphia, PA

1951: Chicago, IL

1952: New York City, NY

1953-54: Philadelphia, PA

1955: New York City, NY

1956-61: Philadelphia, PA

1962-64: Chicago, IL

1965-2014: New York City, NY

I have been, and always will be, fascinated with the NFL Draft. The draft as an event, it’s critical part in team-building, it’s history. All of it. It all fascinates me.