Green Bay, Wisconsin (AP)-Corey Behnke was a 7-year-old child at a pre-season match of Green Bay Packers with his grandfather when he underlined the houses on the other side of rue de Lambeau Field and swore to live there.
Now he has one of the best places to look at while the biggest spectacle out of the NFL season takes shape.
The annual pilgrimage of the NFL project in the cities of the League is Arrive at Green Bay With all the competitions coming from the operation at the home of the only public franchise in the NFL.
“I think it will be emblematic in a way that other projects are not,” said Behnke, now president of the neighborhood association of the region adjacent to Lambeau Field.
As soon as the NFL began to take its project across the country almost a decade ago, packers have wondered what it would take to bring the event to Green Bay. They realized that they would never get Super Bowl because of the small population of Green Bay and the February freezing weather.
Hosting a draft would be the next best thing.
The possibility that the president / chief Prepare for his retirement In the summer of 2025. While the construction linked to the project continued in the Lambeau region, one of the many panels on the theme of the packages in the construction sites on the other side of the stadium includes this message: “Dreams of draft on the Murphy lawn.”
“For us, we had seen how the project grew up and what it has become, and knew the kind of impact that it would have, not only on the local community of Green Bay, but in the whole state,” said Murphy. “As we are a team belonging to the community, it is really one of our main priorities, it is to give back to the community. It will be the biggest event ever organized in Green Bay. ”
This is where the challenge resides.
The metropolitan region of Green Bay includes around 320,000 people, according to the spokesperson for Discover Green Bay, Nick Meisner. The city itself has a population of less than 110,000 inhabitants. Bringing the project in a city of this size creates obstacles whose league officials did not have to worry about when this event took place in Chicago, Philadelphia or other large metropolitan areas.
Green Bay has approximately 5,000 hotel rooms, a figure that obtains up to 10,000 when Appleton nearby is included. This means that many fans watching the draft may have to stay a few hours in Milwaukee or Madison, although many of them are used to do so for the Packers’ home matches.
“When people say, can the city manage that, well, what does it mean?” Asked Behnke. “Do we have enough hotels?” No, but we knew it. Does the Wisconsin have enough hotels? Yeah, I think yes. I think a lot of people (understand) the fact that it will be a driving event. People will drive here. But I also think that this is how the games are.
The smallest population probably means a smaller number of people in this project. Murphy said that a total attendance of around 250,000 is expected, less than a third of the record crowd of more than 775,000 Assisted the 2024 project to Detroit. The crowd figures are measured by adding the presence numbers for each of the three days of the project, so a person who attends three days would be counted three times.
“The beauty of the project is that you can adapt it to any environment in which you are,” said Jon Barker, main vice-president of the NFL for world event operations. “With each project, there will always be challenges that you have to overcome, but there is also an excellent opportunity.”
These opportunities involve focusing on the tradition and the story of a place that Behnke calls “the best football city in America”.
For example, one of the largest NFL training camp rituals occurs in Green Bay every summer, while players take children’s bikes to drive changing rooms in the training field. Packers have referred to this tradition in their supply project by sending a bike on the theme of packers to the office of the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell.
“We had our project field in video form in the basket in the Packer bicycle,” said Gabrielle Dow, vice-president of marketing and the commitment of fans of packers.
Without giving too much, Barker said part of the April 24. Will incorporate this tradition of bicycle. A bicycle parade for children is scheduled for April 26.
There are also other local connections. When the choices in the first round hear their names called, they will pass a bridge with illustrations by Ike Wynter, based in Milwaukee, which will have made each of its pieces of wood recovered from thrown furniture perceived through the state. Former Wisconsin badgers such as Jonathan Taylor, Joe Thomas, Tim Krumrie and James White will announce the choices of the second and third days of the draft.
Field Field will also play a central role in this project, although this sprawling event includes millions of square feet surrounding the stadium. Admission is free, and television screens in the whole region will allow fans to watch the project even if they are far from the scene and the adoption of the NFL project experience, a festival of fans featuring games, exhibitions, activities and autograph sessions.
When probable first round selections will make their red carpet entry on April 24 before the draft, they will walk on the ground known for its nickname the frozen tundra. Fans will be able to enter the stadium to look at the project on the giant dashboard. The scene on which the choices are announced can be found in a parking lot just east of Lambeau Field.
“I think it will be a three -day advertisement not only for Green Bay, but for the whole state,” said Murphy. “So many different things that are unique and special for Wisconsin, you will see it as part of it.”
It will also show the growth of growth in the region around Lambeau Field.
The Resch Expo, an installation of 125,000 square feet just east of the stadium, opened its doors in 2021 and will serve as a green room for prospects. The NFL draft experience will be in Titletown, a development of 45 acres just west of Lambeau Field which includes offices, stores, restaurants and apartments.
“If these developments do not occur, I don’t think we get the project,” said Meisner.
The project should have an economic impact of $ 20 million for Brown County and $ 90 million for Wisconsin, according to Beth Jones Schnese, Vice-President of Greater Bay Chamber of Marketing / Member. She said it is equivalent to the amount generated by three consecutive weekends of the home match. This also means some drawbacks for local residents with all road closings and the headache of traffic.
Again, this community is used to developing for several weekends every football season. This is just a large example.
Behnke knows it as well as anyone. His family has had Packers seasonal tickets since the opening of Field Lambeau in 1957. He was born in Green Bay, began to live in front of the Field Field Lambeau around five years ago and co -founded the Fans of Cheesehead TV Packers.
He thinks that packers are anchored in the Green Bay community in a different way from other cities that have several professional sports franchises. They are used to welcoming fans who plan to visit Lambeau Field as a list of buckets.
“I think like the city guards and ambassadors, I think people take this very seriously,” said Behnke. “We are not only Wisconsin Nice or Minnesota Nice or Midwest Nice. I think people understand that we have an obligation and responsibility for people who come here, to show them a good time, what you see about the Gamedays. So I think it will extend. “