Announced by the NFL Thursday, the Mile High City is one step closer to hosting either the 2019 or the 2020 NFL Draft.
The city of Denver is one of five finalists to host the NFL Draft, alongside Cleveland-Canton, Kansas City, Las Vegas and Nashville.
The NFL is expected to announce the host city for both the 2019 and 2020 draft during the Spring League Meeting in Atlanta, which will take place from May 21-23.
“It’s a competitive process, and we’re excited to move one step closer to bringing the NFL Draft to Denver,” Broncos CEO and President Joe Ellis said in a statement.
“Working alongside VISIT DENVER and the Denver Sports Commission, we’re confident that Denver would be a tremendous host to showcase the draft and the NFL in a great football environment.”
Matthew Payne, Executive Director of the Denver Sports Commission says he’s optimistic that Denver can host the marquee event.
“As one of America’s best sports cities, we are optimistic that Denver can make a great case for hosting this marquis event,” Payne said.
“We are pleased to hear that Denver has made the shortlist of cities still under consideration to host the 2019 or 2020 Draft, and we look forward to further dialogue about the possibilities.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell visited Denver for a football town hall meeting in August 2017, and believes Denver would be great hosts.
“This is a great community with a lot of passion, and I think they’d be great hosts,” Goodell said. “I can’t imagine we won’t be here someday. The hard part for us now is being able to try to get everywhere they want us. But that’s a good problem to have.”
Denver has never hosted the NFL Draft. The 2018 NFL draft will be hosted at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, April 26-28t.
