Arthur Blank: Atlanta would like to host an NFL draft
As part of the NFL’s relentless quest to turn 16 Sundays into a 365-day-a-year obsession, the NFL draft—quite literally the grownup version of elementary school kickball team-picking—is now both programming gem and barganing chip amongst cities. Having moved from New York to Chicago last year, the Draft is now in play as a moveable feast … and teams want in on the action.
Los Angeles and Denver have already made noises about hosting the NFL Draft after this year’s stint, again in Chicago, and now Atlanta is angling for a piece. Speaking to ESPN.com, Falcons owner Arthur Blank indicated that Atlanta would most definitely be willing to host war rooms, green rooms, and boo-happy fans … after it gets a Super Bowl, of course.
“Absolutely, we want to see [the draft] in Atlanta,” Blank said. “We’ve told that to the NFL. But right now, we’re competing for a Super Bowl. So, I think the league’s view on that is that they probably are not going to spread the wealth, so they’re not going to be holding the draft where the Super Bowl is going to be held as well.”
Atlanta is in the running for the 2019, 2020, and 2021 Super Bowls, along with Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. The NFL’s owners will vote on the sites in May.
In discussing whether Atlanta could host the draft, Blank went full Chamber of Commerce: “We would hold it down at the World Congress Center next to the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in some form or fashion,” he said. “For all the reasons we would be the perfect site for a Super Bowl, we would be the perfect site for the draft. We’ve got 10,000 hotel rooms within a mile of the stadium, 1,000 restaurants, public transportation, and everything is walkable. There are other great public amenities in Atlanta as well. The same reasons why we think the Super Bowl would make sense in Atlanta, the draft would make a lot of sense in Atlanta.”
Plus, added bonus: an Atlanta location puts the draft within driving distance of SEC fan bases cheering their beloved players on to their next destination. One shudders to think of what could happen when Jets fans and Alabama fans collide.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
