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Cleveland selected to host 2021 NFL Draft; WKYC's Jim Donovan to emcee official press conference Thursday

“Voice of the Browns,” WKYC sports anchor Jim Donovan will emcee the official announcement press conference Thursday.

BEREA, Ohio — The NFL’s premiere offseason event is coming to Northeast Ohio, as Cleveland was selected as the host city and the Browns the host team for the 2021 NFL Draft.

After missing out on the 2019 and 2020 drafts in their combined bid with Canton, Cleveland was chosen to host the 2021 NFL Draft during the league’s Spring Meeting in Key Biscayne, Florida.

“Voice of the Browns,” WKYC sports anchor Jim Donovan will emcee the official announcement press conference Thursday.

According to WSMV in Nashville, the NFL Draft generated $133 million in direct spending and $224 million in economic impact for “Music City, U.S.A.”

The 2021 NFL Draft is the latest in a long line of events brought to Cleveland and Northeast Ohio in recent years.

Most notably, the NCAA Tournament men’s basketball regional championship, 2018 NCAA Wrestling Division I Championships, 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and 2022 NBA All-Star Game have all occurred or are scheduled to take place in Cleveland.

Also, Cleveland hosted Cavaliers NBA Finals games from 2015-2018, as well as a World Series at Progressive Field in 2016.

“When we had The Finals and the World Series, I thought downtown was rocking,” Browns offensive lineman Joel Bitonio said after Wednesday’s OTA practice in Berea. “All the people came in and we saw how cool the city of Cleveland really is. The draft’s a big three-day, big weekend party. All those TV stations coming and all the people.

“I think it will show, ‘Hey, Cleveland’s a cool place to be,’ and it’d be awesome for the community. We have truly die-hard football fans in this part of the country, and I think they’d come over from all over the Midwest. Ohio’s a good base to say, ‘Hey, this is what football’s about, where football came from, and it’d be an awesome week.”

Cornerback Denzel Ward shared in Bitonio’s excitement at the prospect of Cleveland hosting the 2021 NFL Draft.

“It hasn’t been here before, so for it to come to Cleveland, that would be huge for the city,” Ward said. “Everybody should come out and just enjoy that process.”

Previously, Cleveland combined with Canton on a bid to host either the 2019 or 2020 NFL drafts, but lost out to Nashville and Las Vegas, respectively. However, after changing their bid, Cleveland secured the NFL’s annual selection meeting.

Last spring, Nashville was chosen to host the 2019 NFL Draft from a group including Las Vegas, Denver, Kansas City and the combination bid from Canton and Cleveland.

Back in March of 2018, the NFL officials joined representatives from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Browns and visitors bureaus of both Cleveland and Canton on a site survey ahead of the decisions on host cities for the 2019 and 2020 NFL Drafts.

The combined bid of Cleveland and Canton was chosen as a finalist to host the NFL Draft in either 2019 or 2020 on February 15, 2018.

The NFL held their annual draft in New York City from 1965 through 2014, but three years ago, league officials took the show on the road.

The NFL Draft was held in Chicago for two years (2015, 2016), and on the steps of the famed Philadelphia Museum of Art in “The City of Brotherly Love” in 2017. The 2018 NFL Draft was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

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