NFL Planning ‘Large, Live, In-Person’ Draft in Cleveland

The NFL is scrapping the virtual format it used for the 2020 NFL Draft, and planning to for a “large, live, in-person” draft in 2021, according to sources.

As Sports Business Journal reports, the NFL is moving forward with a plan to have their draft prospects on a stage and fans in attendance when the draft kicks off from Cleveland on April 29. However, the league is looking at an outdoor venue for the event and will enforce strict mask compliance.

“We have been characterizing it as a ‘large, live, in-person event,” said Greater Cleveland Sports Commission CEO David Gilbert. As Gilbert explains, the crowd is expected to be “the largest event in this city in many years, certainly since the [2016] Republican Convention.”

The NFL says it will use the draft to promote vaccines,” Pro Football Talk reports. “About a quarter of Ohio adults have already received at least one shot, and on March 29 all Ohio adults will become eligible, meaning that by the time the draft rolls around, a large percentage of those in attendance should be vaccinated.”

The NFL Draft Experience, a fan-friendly event held at each draft will be held at “FirstEnergy Stadium and the broad plaza between the stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock ‘n’ Roll HOF, all located just north of downtown Cleveland.”