Report: Mayor Emanuel 'Aggressive' In Pursuit To Bring NFL Draft To Chicago
(CBS) Mayor Rahm Emanuel has spoken on multiple occasions of his desire to bring big events to Chicago, and it looks like he's intensifying his pursuit of a new one.
Emanuel has been "very aggressive" in his pursuit to bring the NFL Draft to Chicago, NFL Network reporter Rich Eisen tweeted after he interviewed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ahead of the start of Thursday's draft.
Eisen specifically references the 2015 draft. This year's draft is being held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, as it has been since 2006.
[tweet https://twitter.com/richeisen/status/463364420392202240]
Eisen's tweet echoes a report from the New York Daily News over the weekend that cited anonymous sources as saying Chicago was in the mix to host the 2015 draft.
The combination of scheduling conflicts with Radio City and other cities eager to host what has become a hugely popular event could result in New York losing the draft as early as 2015. The NFL's deal with Radio City is for this year only with options for the future.
The league pushed back this year's draft two weeks until May 8-10 because Radio City had scheduled a spring show that conflicted with the league's plan to hold it as usual the last week of April. Right around the time of the league meetings in March, the NFL found out Radio City had canceled the show.
In a podcast last week, 670 The Score's Adam Hoge also addressed the possibility of the draft moving to Chicago.
"I think there's a very good chance the draft will be in Chicago next year," Hoge said. "I don't think a decision has been made on that for next year, but I do think it's on the table, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if it's in Chicago next year."