What many fans have asked for over the past years is much closer to finally coming to pass – the NFL draft will move out of New York.
The article from CBS sports is here
Radio City apparently has decided to schedule other events in April/May, and can’t (won’t?) host it in 2015.
And the other 2 most likely venues in New York (Barclays & Madison Square Garden) are booked with basketball & hockey games.
The monopoly which New York has held on the draft since 1965 will finally come to an end. Apparently 12 cities expressed interest to the NFL regarding hosting the draft. Not sure if Cincy was one of the 12? The NFL has narrowed it to 2 locations – either Chicago or Los Angeles.
The LA host location is rather interesting, as it will lead to all sort of speculation regarding franchise relocation since LA currently does not have an NFL team, and only 1 team (San Diego Chargers) are anywhere near LA.
Chicago is an interesting location for local fans of Midwest teams to watch the draft live, as the Bengals, Colts, Rams, Lions, and Packers are within 150~300 miles of Chicago. And the Bears are right there, of course. Also, the Browns are within a drivable distance at 340 miles away.
The Chicago location also gives props to the NFL’s deep history, as Chicago & Cleveland are 2 of the oldest professional football locations. Obviously the Browns 2.0 aren’t part of this history, but the Canton/Cleveland area was instrumental in the development of pro football.
There is no guarantee that the draft will become like Antiques Roadshow and bounce from city to city, it will be somewhere other than New York in 2015. Also there is no guarantee that this is more than a 1-year relocation based on New York scheduling conflicts. But, this does at the least open the door for the draft to move on some sort of regular basis, and perhaps even end up near Cincinnati at some point.
So for at least 1 year we will receive a reprieve from watching obnoxiously drunken New York & Philly fans yelling and booing every time their team makes a lousy pick.