Rahm Emanuel: 'Would Love' To Have NFL Draft Permanently In Chicago
(CBS) Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel is thrilled that the NFL Draft will return to Chicago in 2016 for the second straight year, and he's emphasized to his team that it has to make as great of an impression in 2016 as it did in 2015 for the city to accomplish its goal of keeping the big event in the city long term.
"I would love to have it permanently, but I think now that the NFL has realized, let's say, this isn't just a pit stop on the way between seasons -- it's a major event -- we're going to have to compete for it," Emanuel said in an interview on 670 The Score on Thursday morning. "I told my team here, 'Yes, we've won this a second time, but we're not going in like this is ours. We're going in like we have to compete to win it a third time. I want everybody to double down, no high-fiving.'"
After the NFL Draft had been held in New York City for decades, Chicago won the right to host it in 2015 and received glowing reviews. The NFL was smitten with Draft Town, a large fan festival in Grant Park with music, food, games and kids activities that attracted tens of thousands of fans.
On Aug. 11, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Emanuel announced that the draft was returning to Chicago from April 28-30, 2016. Emanuel has a pitch to keep it here for good, though he expects there to be a competitive bidding process every year.
"I'm proud that they picked Chicago the first time, I'm proud they picked Chicago for consecutive years," Emanuel said. "I think when Roger and the NFL management decided to move out of New York after decades, it was really between L.A. and Chicago. I said, 'Look, here's my number Roger. You got a problem, an issue that comes up, you don't have to call 10 people. You got one number, and I'll make it happen.' The good news is they're coming back. I think they discovered the NFL Draft isn't a side business between the seasons. It's actually an entire energized way for fans to stay engaged in the sport. I think they themselves have been surprised because last year when it was first here, I think they were expecting 100, 125 thousand (people to attend). Nobody knew. You were going into uncharted water. All of a sudden 250,000 people showed up -- on Saturday alone was about 150,000. I sent a helicopter up to take a shot of it so Roger could see the mass of crowd.
"When you think about it, you got Chicago, you got Green Bay, you got Indianapolis, you got Detroit. You got Cleveland, Cincinnati, you got Pittsburgh. That's all within (driving distance). This is the heartland of America. This is where their fans are ... This is where their fans are within a four-hour drive.
Emanuel lobbied hard to bring the 2015 draft to Chicago, believing it would be a big boost tourism. Numbers showed that it was. The draft generated an economic impact of $81.6 million, according to a Sport Industry Research Center at Temple University study commissioned by the Chicago Sports Commission. An estimated half of the draft attendees were from outside the Chicago area.
At the heart of improving the draft experience in 2016 is to make Draft Town even more dynamic, Emanuel said.
"There will be other ways we make Draft Town have even more sparkle for people to want to come and be a part of it," he said.
Listen to Emanuel's full interview below.