The history of the NFL draft and hotels is not a new one, but in the grand scheme of both the draft and the hotel industry, the history of it being an annual major demand driving event for hotel in different U.S. markets is very new.
Once upon a time, the draft — also known as the annual player selection meeting — was held in hotel conference rooms. In fact, you can go back and watch documentary footage of one of the most famous drafts in history — the 1983 draft that featured hall of fame quarterbacks John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino — to see some archival footage of the New York Sheraton Hotel, now the Park Central Hotel New York.
Back then, the draft resembled more of what its official name hints at, a simple meeting of league executives designed to hash out which young players are headed where, as opposed to the massive wave of fanfare and off-season attention grabbing we get today.
For much of its early history, the draft was an event solely held in New York City, which happens to be the location of the NFL's corporate headquarters. Once the event grew into a fan-drawing spectacle in its own right, the draft moved to Radio City Music Hall, and the most dedicated football fans would make a pilgrimage there to see their favorite team pick their newest players in person.
But it all changed in 2015 when the league instituted a new policy of taking the draft on the road, hosting the first as a large outdoor event in Chicago's Grant Park.
Since then, the draft has moved every year, drawing crowds of nearly 800,000 fans and the hotel demand that would induce over a three day event.
So looking at that timetable, the interesting part I think for the hotel industry is just shy of a decade ago, the NFL draft wasn't something that really needed to be on hoteliers' collective radar. Sure, it brought some demand to New York, but in such a huge market with a relatively limited audience, it wasn't a needle mover.
Now it's one of the top hotel demand-inducing events on the sports calendar.
So this begs the question: What could be the next act to follow?
Obviously, other leagues also have their versions of the same thing, and the NHL similarly likes to take its draft on the road, but it doesn't draw anywhere near the same level of crowd. As always in America, football is king.
And this isn't considering the one-off events we've all been thinking about, like this summer's FIFA World Cup sprinkled across North America or the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
There will be new things that crop up over the next decade that will become recurring events that matter to how you do business. Being able to identify what they are and plan strategy around them will make a huge difference for your hotels.
Let me know what you think on LinkedIn or via email.
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