Menu
Closing Bell

NFL Draft attendance falls short of expectations

By Ben Fischer

CLEVELAND -- About 35,000 people attended the first round of the NFL Draft in Cleveland Thursday night, a league spokesperson said, well short of the stated capacity of 55,000. Rain and a cold wind off Lake Erie likely contributed to the attendance figures. More than 50,000 people downloaded the NFL’s required OnePass mobile app before the night started, an indicator of early intentions. The NFL had said that 50,000 people would be allowed into the Draft Experience fan expo each day, broken up into sessions. Another 5,000 would be admitted to the draft theater area or Standing room only space right outside (both those areas are limited to fully vaccinated fans only). Some availability for the Draft Experience remains for the sessions Friday and Saturday before the Draft begins again. The spokesperson said the league expects to reach capacity.

ADDITIONAL SECTIONS
PODCASTS

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: June 26, 2023

FSG gets into golf; What's next for Monumental Sports? MLB gets another hit with London series and a big acquisition in the agency world.

SBJ Spotlight: Scott Warfield of PGA Tour

Legalized sports betting is in the third inning according to Scott Warfield. The PGA Tour’s VP of Gaming says that the industry is heading in the right direction and there is plenty of opportunity. Warfield joins SBJ’s Abe Madkour and John Ourand from Orlando in this edition of SBJ Spotlight.

SBJ I Factor: Danita Johnson

SBJ I Factor presented by Allied Sports features an interview with Danita Johnson, president of business operations for D.C. United and a member of Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 class of 2023. Johnson talks with SBJ’s Abe Madkour about learning how to sell and to not fear change, becoming an effective manager, the importance of empathy as a leadership trait, and what to look for when evaluating job candidates. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards, such as Forty Under 40, Game Changers and others.

SBJ TV

UNC AD Bubba Cunningham on football, women's sports and NIL

12 mins

Toledo AD Bryan Blair on the challenges and opportunities of NIL

8 mins

Marchand and Ourand, Ep: 91: What’s Next for the NBA, RSNs and Messi

43 mins

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2021/04/30/Draft-attendance.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2021/04/30/Draft-attendance.aspx

CLOSE
You have 0 All Access articles remaining this month.

Register for a free SBJ account to unlock one extra article per month.

© 2023 Leaders Group. All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Leaders Group.