Nashville emerges as 'leading contender' to host 2019 NFL draft: Report

Nashville has “emerged as the leading contender” to host the 2019 NFL Draft, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Thursday afternoon, citing league sources.

The NFL declined to address the report.

"We are not going to comment on speculation," NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy wrote in an email to The Tennessean.

Nashville is among five cities being considered to host the NFL draft in either 2019 or 2020, along with Las Vegas, Denver, Kansas City, Mo., and a combination bid from Cleveland and Canton, Ohio.

The decision is expected to be announced during the league’s spring meeting May 22-23 in Atlanta.

"Even in the unlikely event that Nashville were to lose out on the 2019 NFL Draft, it would be in prime position to then host the 2020 Draft," Schefter reports. "But 2019 in Nashville is looking increasingly likely, per league sources."

Butch Spyridon, the president and CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp., has been working to bring the draft to Music City for the better part of a decade. He has said the sales pitch includes the potential use of multiple venues, from Nissan Stadium to Music City Center to the Grand Ole Opry, from Ryman Auditorium to Broadway to Ascend Amphitheater.

Last month, Spyridon said the success of the Titans' uniform unveiling, which in conjunction with a free Florida-Georgia Line concert drew an estimated crowd of 20,000 people to Lower Broadway, could aid the city’s efforts to land the draft.

“A number of NFL folks were in town,” Spyridon said. “More on the merchandising side. But I think everybody from the Titans organization and certainly from my staff was fed every encouraging word possible about our prospects. I’d say they were appropriately impressed.”

The NFL held the draft in New York each year before taking the annual event on the road, moving it from to Chicago in 2015 and ’16, Philadelphia in 2017 and the Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington, Texas, last month.

“With the combination of venues and entertainment that's here locally, live music and other events, it's sort of a no-brainer to include Nashville on the list of cities (that could host the draft)," Titans president and CEO Steve Underwood said in February. “We have a great airport, all kinds of other attractions for people to see, world-class dining and great hotel rooms. There's so many pluses, that I think even the league knows it needs to have Nashville in its sights.”

Reach Jason Wolf at jwolf@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter at @JasonWolf and on Instagram and Snapchat at TitansBeat.

Titans offseason schedule

Rookie minicamp: May 11-13

OTAs: May 21-22, May 24, May 29-30, June 1, June 4-7

Mandatory minicamp: June 12-14