Mayor Nirenberg ‘putting together proposal’ for NFL Draft, says there is no better city to host

SAN ANTONIO – The NFL Draft is one of the highlights of the American sports calendar and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg believes the Alamo City should host the showcase event in the future.

Nirenberg initially made the comments to ESPN Radio San Antonio. He told KSAT on Friday that San Antonio hosting the NFL Draft is something he has thought about for some time.

“We are a destination city. We pull off major sporting events better than any city in the country and that has been on display for a long time,” said Nirenberg. “With the recent success of the AAF and Final Four and so forth, it makes sense.”

Since the late 1960s, the NFL Draft has been hosted by cities with franchises, but started to move locations in 2015-16.

Nirenberg said the concept is “a little bit outside the box,” but believes it’s a step in the right direction for the future of professional sports in San Antonio.

“We’re a major sporting venue for these large events,” said Nirenberg. “There’s no blueprint for it though. There’s not a playbook for it, but I think it would do extraordinarily well for the city.”

The NFL Draft will be held in Las Vegas this year and Cleveland in 2021.

The league has not announced a host for the 2022 draft while Kansas City will host in 2023. Many expect Los Angeles to land the 2022 draft.

Nirenberg did not say whether 2022 would be a target year, but wants San Antonio to become a player in the bidding process.

“We’re examining the process, putting together a proposal. Nothing formally yet,” said Nirenberg. “But again as a concept, there’s not a better city in the world to host for the NFL draft than San Antonio.”

Last year, the NFL Draft set attendance and viewership records.

More than 600,000 fans filled the streets of Nashville for the three-day event.

All draft telecasts combined to reach more than 47.5 million viewers over that same period.


About the Author:

RJ Marquez is the traffic anchor/reporter for KSAT’s Good Morning San Antonio. He also fills in as a news anchor and has covered stories from breaking news and Fiesta to Spurs championships and high school sports. RJ started at KSAT in 2010. He is proud to serve our viewers and be a part of the culture and community that makes San Antonio great.