NFL: Eagles Tried Hard to Keep Draft for 2018
Following a tremendous success at hosting the 2017 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles made a “strong,” yet unfortunately unsuccessful bid to keep the draft in the City of Brotherly Love for next year, says the National Football League. Last week, the NFL announced during its fall league meeting that the Dallas Cowboys had been selected to hold the 2018 draft, thanks to a vigorous campaign by team owner Jerry Jones. The Cowboys will hold the draft at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and not at their practice facility in Frisco, as previously speculated.
The Eagles made a strong bid to keep the 2018 NFL Draft in Philly, but the League decided to give hosting duties to Dallas next year.
An NFL spokesperson spoke to NJ.com, and confirmed that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie pushed hard for a second year in Philadelphia, based off of the near-universal positive reviews the city received for their work on the 2017 event.
“In the end there was a strong bid from Philadelphia to have a second year,” NFL executive vice president of communications Joe Lockhart confirmed last Wednesday at the Conrad Hotel in New York City, following the closing of last Tuesday’s meeting. “When we did Chicago, we did two years, so, Philadelphia made a strong push based on Chicago’s second-year being better than the first year.”
What ultimately made the decision for the League, however, was a factor familiar to mothers of several children who all want the same thing: fairness. Every team in the NFL has seen the financial benefits and media attention that come from hosting the draft, as evidenced in Chicago and Philly, and now everyone wants a chance to play host. Lockhart pointed out that there are currently 20 teams interested in holding the draft in their own cities, and that if everyone got two years in a row, it would take 40 years to cycle through them all.
It’s been estimated that 100,000 fans attended the NFL Draft events held by the Eagles on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, an unprecedented number.
