Is Buffalo About to Host The NFL Draft?

In a few weeks, NFL fans will be flocking to the historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay to catch the NFL Draft.  It makes you wonder if it will ever be hosted in Buffalo?

Fans in Buffalo have been told for years that there's no way the Super Bowl could ever be hosted in Western New York.  Most people believe it's because of our weather and our stadium that we couldn't host the Super Bowl.  While the Bills are currently building a brand new, state-of-the-art stadium, the NFL has traditionally chosen a city with a domed stadium or much warmer weather in January and February. Unfortunately, there's more to it than that.  Most experts agree that the infrastructure, available hotel rooms, traffic flow, and more are bigger issues that keep Buffalo out of the race to host a Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl was expected to draw around 300,000 people last year.  While the stadium could only hold around 65,000, the city of Las Vegas was expecting more than that to come to the city. That's a lot of people, but what about the NFL Draft?

How Many People Come to the NFL Draft?

The NFL Draft was held in Detroit last year.  They were anticipating around 400,000 to attend.  When all was said and done, they ended up counting over 700,000.

Cleveland held the draft in 2021.  They're another rust belt city and while they're still bigger, they're a little closer in size to Buffalo.  Cleveland brought about 160,000 people in for the draft.  They had much smaller numbers but it was also still during the pandemic.

Could Buffalo host an NFL Draft?

Buffalo Bills sideline reporter Sal Capaccio had an in-depth interview with Buffalo Bills Chief Operating Officer Pete Guelli yesterday and learned that yes, the Bills are pushing to get the draft here.

You can bet that the Bills executives who will be attending the draft in Green Bay this year will be watching very closely to see what they're doing wrong and what they're doing right.  There's no question that it would be an incredibly electric atmosphere if the Bills could convince the NFL to do it here.  The only question is where everyone would stay.  Where could they go to eat and experience more of Buffalo?  Would Western New York be big enough to hold all those people?