NFL Draft officially coming to Nashville in 2019: Why Music City got the draft

The National Football League Draft is officially coming to Nashville in 2019, bringing to fruition what the city’s top tourism executive called the biggest media event ever to be recruited here.

NFL owners on Wednesday approved Nashville as the host city of the event that has evolved from a two-night cable television broadcast inside a relatively small New York theater, to a multi-day spectacle attracting around 20,000 tourists and a combined 45.4 million television and online viewers across four networks. Cleveland and Canton, Las Vegas, Kansas City and Denver were the other contenders.

Nashville has made overtures to host the draft for nearly a decade. At one point, Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. President and CEO Butch Spyridon was so intent on bringing the draft here that he delivered a sales pitch for Music City even when NFL officials hadn't asked for applications.

More: Everything you need to know about the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville

More: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell: Nashville has 'passionate fan base, iconic locations'

What seemed like a long-shot as recently as last year is now a reality. The draft will take place on April 25-27. It's the latest sports and entertainment victory for a city that has recently landed an MLS expansion franchise, seen its hockey team, the Predators, explode in popularity and cemented its reputation as a global destination for music fans.

The precise venues to be incorporated for different components of the football, music and food festival are still to be ironed out, but Spyridon said he anticipates lower Broadway, the Nissan Stadium parking lot, Ascend Amphitheater and the Music City Center convention hall being incorporated.

More: Inside Nashville's sales pitch to host NFL draft

In Philadelphia, the 2017 draft attracted $56.1 million in direct visitor spending and about 250,000 fans. Visitor numbers for the most recent draft, held last month in Dallas, are still being tabulated.

Factoring in the stiff competition to host the event, along with both the visitor spending and the sheer number of fans who watch the draft, Spyridon called it "the biggest media event we've ever recruited to Nashville."

“For a one off I put it at the top,” Spyridon said when asked to compare the draft with other major events Nashville has hosted. “This is a huge event on every level. Number of people, number of media, production, all of it.”

The NFL hosted the draft in New York, where the league is headquartered, before electing to move it around five years ago. Chicago hosted twice prior to Philadelphia, and most recently Dallas.

Pointing to Nashville's popularity for leisure tourists and its close proximity to NFL franchises within a day's drive, Spyridon predicted Nashville will outpace the previous drafts in terms of attracting out-of-town fans. Philadelphia reported 18,991 room nights.

“New York, Chicago, Philly and Dallas, they were all huge, but they were a lot of Bears and Eagles fans,” Spyridon said. “Dallas drew a few more out-of-towners, but I think coming into the south with the close proximity of the Saints, Colts, Bengals and Falcons, we do really well as a destination draft. And, obviously coming from this office that’s our greatest motivation.”

The city's event marketing fund committee is considering a proposal to commit $1 million in tourism tax dollars to promote the draft. Spyridon said there will be an additional private fundraising effort, led by a not-yet-assembled steering committee, to raise an additional $1 million to $2 million.

Music, of course, will be a crucial component, and Nashville artists are expected to perform throughout the event to give the draft a Music City vibe. Spyridon said Tim McGraw's team has already reached out offering its support, and that McGraw volunteered to serve on the steering committee.

Other artists such as Kings of Leon and Little Big Town have offered promotional help through their substantial social media reach. Which artists will perform and how music will be incorporated is still being decided. But, Nashville has experience incorporating music at its New Year's Eve and July 4 celebrations, not to mention its success hosting music festivals like CMA Fest and Americana Fest.

"We're going to use music, and we're going to do it right," Spyridon said.

NFL execs impressed with Nashville and with Titans leadership

Nashville had already impressed NFL executives as a possible draft destination when the Titans and CVC partnered for a uniform reveal party that brought about 20,000 people downtown. The country band Florida Georgia Line provided the music as players modeled the new uniforms.

Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's senior vice president for events, said one attribute Nashville offers is "a great downtown, connected environment with such energy in terms of music, restaurants, bars and honky tonks, and a history of doing great events downtown." He said the league took note of Titans' fans passion during the uniform reveal.

"One great, positive evolution of the draft is when we were in a theater only environment in the draft, that was really about the hardcore fan, who was waiting on every compensatory pick in the sixth round," O'Reilly said. "Versus now with the ability to create this free, accessible, fun festival environment that has a little something for everybody.

"You can come down as a family and everywhere you turn you'll see the draft on a big screen and see that going on. So you're never far from the draft itself, but you create a festival environment where you have a field for flag football clinics, or running a 40-yard-dash against an LED screen of the fastest 40s in the NFL. Or if you just want to come down and have some great local food, listen to music and then go over and get an autograph from a Titans player, you've got that type of environment."

At its core, the draft is an event where NFL teams stock their rosters with top collegiate players. That makes the draft immensely popular with both NFL and NCAA football fans.

The draft also serves as a showcase for the host city, and the media presence continues to grow. Four networks - ESPN, NFL Network, Fox and ABC - broadcast at least one day of the NFL draft last month.

More than 20 of the league's 30 markets expressed an interest in hoping a future draft, O'Reilly said.

"We're obviously thrilled with the growth and excited to see it only continue to grow in Nashville," O'Reilly said. "At the core, the draft is about hope and it's just a testament to the passion of our fans."

Titans CEO: Hosting the draft is good timing for Titans and for Nashville

Tennessee Titans President Steve Underwood said hosting the draft in 2019 is good timing for the team and the city. Although any potential discussions about a new or renovated stadium are years away, bringing such a massive tourist draw to Nashville serves as a reminder of how the Titans benefit the city, he said.

Underwood said it would be "difficult to exaggerate how much the event will mean to the downtown business community."

"We have a great relationship with Metro and also the Sports Authority, both of them are the landlords at Nissan Stadium. We have had a long period of mutual partnership and respect with both of those entities," Underwood said. "But I think when they see how large this event is going to be for Nashville and Middle Tennessee, it will reinforce how much not only the Titans, but Nissan Stadium and our surrounding stadium footprint, mean to Nashville and the people of Nashville.

"I think this is an opportunity to renew our relationship, not only with governmental leaders, but also with our fans, our (season ticket license holders) and all the people who follow the Titans year in and year out. They will see the power of the NFL demonstrated in Nashville a couple of weeks before the draft begins."

There are certainly some kinks to be worked out regarding Nashville hosting the draft, namely because the event's final day coincides with the annual St. Jude Rock N Roll Nashville Marathon and Half Marathon.

Spyridon said there are plans to incorporate the marathon into the draft event, and that city leaders are confident Nashville can accommodate both on the same day. He pointed to last year when CMA Fest and Predator's Stanley Cup Playoff games took place on the same day and attracted tens of thousands of fans.

“We can turn the marathon into one more draft event, they’ve come around. There are still logistics to work out but the marathon has been great, I talked to them a year ago and said here’s what we’re thinking.

“Marathon (leaders), Metro Police, everybody is comfortable.”

Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and nrau@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @tnnaterau.