The Green Bay area will be the second in Wisconsin to host the NFL draft while the story behind the first one is both interesting and historic

All eyes will be on Wisconsin when the NFL brings the 2025 player selection draft to the state.

Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich estimates more than 250,000 visitors for next April’s draft. The city’s population? A little more than 107,000.

“This will be one of the biggest events ever held in the Green Bay area,” Genrich says. “And we don’t have the number of hotels like a Detroit, who is hosting the draft this year, or Kansas City which held the event with 300,000 fans last year. So we are looking at the draft to have an impact across the whole state.”

The main activities will happen in and around Lambeau Field and the Titletown campus, according to the Packers.

2025 NFL Draft isn’t the first in Wisconsin

Did you know this is not the first time the draft was held in Wisconsin?

Years ago, the NFL draft was a part of the league’s annual meeting, and held wherever the championship game happened at the end of the season.

It came to Wisconsin in 1939 and was a one-day event held at what’s now the Milwaukee City Center Hotel. 10 teams were part of the league at the time.

The following day, the city hosted the NFL Championship game. The Packers won the title by beating the Giants, 27-0.

Over the course of the next 50 years, NFL leaders decided to hold the meeting and draft in New York City.

The draft again started moving to different cities in 2015.

Officials from across the Green Bay area, including the Packers, have had an eye on it ever since, and the winning bid was announced last year.

“It will be on all of us, when there aren’t draft activities happening, to get fans into and around the city,” Genrich says. “We also want to highlight what our beautiful state has to offer our visitors.”

The NFL draft will be held in Green Bay, April 24-26, 2025.