CLEVELAND — A couple of months ago, Mike Mulhall was preparing to head to Las Vegas to get a behind-the-scenes look at this year’s NFL Draft.
“Our group was going to arrive on Wednesday and experience the entire draft, get some behind the scenes and work with the NFL team that put on the draft,” said Mulhall, vice president of business development with the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. "[We] really wanted to experience it and learn so we're better prepared one year from now."
But along with the draft, Mulhall’s trip was canceled, after the state of Nevada shutdown the Las Vegas Strip due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mulhall and his team have been going to the NFL drafts since 2017 to get better prepared for when the city lights up with action on April 29, 2021. While Mulhall and his team lost out on the chance to watch the draft unfold in Las Vegas, he said they are thankful for experiences in years past including in Dallas and Nashville.
"We even went to Nashville after the draft to meet with the folks that put it on," said Mulhall. "So losing that Vegas experience isn't as bad since we have experienced the draft before."
Beyond the glitz and glamour, the economic impact alone could mean a lot for the city of Cleveland. Nashville’s draft in 2019 brought in $224 million.
“If it holds true like it has for the past several years, it will be the biggest event we’ve hosted.”
With health and safety at top of mind during the pandemic, Mulhall said they are in discussions on how to host the event which has drawn hundreds of thousands of fans in the past.
“You got a plan for a lot of different scenarios in everything you do, but in this case I would say it’s even more complicated than usual because we really don’t know what the world is going to look like in two months, three months, or 12 months.”
Mulhall said the energy surrounding the draft continues to build despite the challenges that have surfaced.
“We know we’ll be ready,” said Mulhall.
The NFL Draft is set to return to Las Vegas in 2022.
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