The 2023 NFL Draft Should Generate More Than $100 Million For the local Kansas City economy
Draftnick Ric, Jeff Fedotin talking $$$ for Kansas City, Small School prospecting with Insidtheleague.com
Today Ric is focused on;
The National Football League Draft Countdown now stands at 6 days until we reach our destination: Kansas City!
In today’s email:
Draftnick Ric and Ryan Leaf ask Bill Polian to hop on Twitter spaces and for some intellectual honesty from Mr. Polian.
The 2023 NFL Draft Should Generate More Than $100 Million For the local Kansas City economy by Jeff Fedotin
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Whether among city leaders or the front office of the reigning Super Bowl champions, the consensus is that the 2023 NFL Draft will be Kansas City’s biggest sporting event ever.
“No one can really think of anything that would have been bigger,” said Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission and Visit KC. “This is probably the largest sporting event and — possibly even — the largest event our city has ever hosted.”
The event, which lasts from April 27 to 29, is expected to have an economic impact on the city of more than $100 million, according to Visit KC’s calculations.
That sum would come from hotels, restaurants, merchandise, transportation and food and beverage sales. Taxes on the latter will further benefit the city.
“It’s great for Kansas City,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said.
The NFL predicted around 300,000 will attend the free event, which is in line with numbers for last year’s draft. Depending on weather conditions, attendance possibly could approach the record of 600,000 at Nashville, Tenn. in 2019.
Since moving from New York City and then spending two years in Chicago (2015 and 2016), the draft has become a traveling a road show. Philadelphia in 2017, Dallas in 2018, Nashville in 2019, Cleveland in 2021 and Las Vegas in 2022 have hosted it.
Nashville serves as the best recent comparison to Kansas City because Las Vegas is a very unique city, Dallas’ was centered around AT&T Stadium (Jerry World) and the country was still coming out of the pandemic for the Cleveland draft. (The 2020 draft was virtual, According to The Tennessean, the 2019 NFL Draft generated $132.8 million for Nashville. and commissioner Roger Goodell announced picks from his home.)
The previous record was 2018 when Dallas brought in $74 million, followed by $56.1 million in direct spending in Philadelphia in 2017 and $43.9 million for Chicago in 2016.
The 2023 NFL Draft will take place at both the National World War I Museum and Memorial and Union Station in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
The draft theater and stage, where the NFL rookies will bro hug Goodell, are set up outside and in front of Union Station. The stage is covered, and there are indoor contingency plans in place in the case of very extreme weather.
The green room, where the rookies wait with their families to be to selected, will be inside of Union Station.
The lawns of the National World War I Museum and Memorial will be where fans can gather. The north lawn of the museum will have a viewing area and feature a Bud Light beer garden. The south lawn of the museum has the NFL Experience interactive exhibits, a signature attraction for this unprecedented event in the City of Fountains.
“The international reach and the global marketing of this,” Nelson said, “is unlike anything our city has ever seen.”
Kansas City, though, has the benefit of recently hosting a major event in the same area. Hundreds of thousands gathered for February’s Super Bowl LVII parade honoring the Chiefs, and that rally ended in front of Union Station.
In some ways that served as good preparation, but that one-day event was spread out along a 2.3-mile route and featured one small stage.
The NFL draft spans three days and involves a secured perimeter of 3 million square feet of space, and the physical structures entail four weeks of setup and one week of teardown.
“It’s very different,” Nelson said. “There’s nothing like the setup.”
But like the parade, the draft represents a unique opportunity for Kansas City to celebrate football and showcase its downtown.
“It’s a great city,” Reid said. “I’m mainly happy for the city and for the NFL for bringing it there.”
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Last week we broke down the top 10 NFL prospects, regardless of class, at Air Force, Akron, Alabama, UAB and Appalachian State. It’s our first partnership on the Profile Reports with InsideTheLeague.com and Todd Worly, veterans of evaluation and who have collaborated as part of the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl team for several years.
Click here for all five of this week’s reports, plus every report we’ve filed on FBS schools since 2010. It’s never too early to start looking at who you should recruit next year and beyond.
Inside The League provides an in-depth analysis of the issues facing people who make football their business. Learn more about their services at www.InsideTheLeague.com
The assembled football universe took a brief break for the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, to recognize and honor some of the top executives in the pro football industry on Wednesday, March 1st at the 14th Annual USI Insurance Holdings Inside The League Combine (ITL) Seminar Presented By American Tens are in! ITL founder Neil Stratton was MC for the event, which drew over 300 attendees from various segments of the football community.
April Pre-Agent Exam Zoom Update:
Calculating minimum tenders for franchise and transition players
Preseason split and in-season split, types of splits, definition, etc.
Calculating contracts with up/down amounts
Calculating payment to a player on PS
Extended injury protections and worker’s compensation offsets
Registration is $50 plus tax, and as always, everyone who registers gets the video, as well. Just make sure you have a gmail email address (ends in @gmail.com), or you won’t be able to access the video, which is set to “private” (you also will need to log into YouTube to view it). Anyway, stay tuned. We’ll begin signing everyone up next week. By the way, you can purchase ether of our first two videos (February and March) for $35 plus tax each. For topics covered, or to order a video, email us at nstratton@insidetheleague.com
Why should I become an InsideTheLeague client?
I am a School Official or Compliance Officer
I am the Parent of a Prospect (Student Athlete)
I am a Newly Certified Sports Agent
I am a Combine Prep Trainer
I am a Financial Planner
I am Considering NFLPA Certification
I want to Become a Partner
I want to receive ITL Client Discount
Inside The League provides an in-depth analysis of the issues facing people who make football their business.
Review the latest from other former NFL scouts and executives by accessing our Catching Up archive here. Want to hear from a former scout, or know someone who may be interested in being interviewed? Let us know.
Rep Rumblings: We had four reports this past week.
On Monday, we discussed our new partnership with NFL Draft Bible, plus we passed along the last NFL local pro day date and discussed a possible intern vacancy in New York.
Tuesday, we broke down the big story of Terry McDonough’s lawsuit against the Cardinals and had a few insights and observations. We also had a couple notes on agency transitions.
Wednesday, we discussed Nicole Lynn’s rise that resulted in her new post as President of Football at Klutch Sports Group, plus we had an agent change for an NFL Combine invitee and we got the exact date of the 2023 NFL Agent Exam.
Finally, on Thursday, we had a little scouting change buzz, plus we had agent ties to an Alabama player and the announcement for Monday night’s Zoom.
Check out all of this year’s Rep Rumblings reports, plus every report we’ve filed since 2013, here.
Next week: Eight days until the USFL’s new season kicks off, and eight days until 51 schools play their respective spring games (14 FBS schools play their spring games in the next week). Just under three weeks till draft day. Three weeks until the XFL playoffs begin. Here’s what we’ve got over the next week.
Our New Agent Zoom for April is Monday at 9 p.m. ET. ITL’s Neil Stratton will host, as usual, with former Titans scouting executive Blake Beddingfield around as guest host. If you’re an active ITL client, and it’s your first year certified, you’ll be sent the Zoom link Monday afternoon. Click here for more details.
We’ve moved the (still tentative) date for our next Pre-Agent Exam Zoom with Ian Greengross to Tuesday, April 18, at 9 p.m. ET. As you know, we’ll go about an hour, and we’ll cover topics related that are key to passing the test. We’ll start the registration process next week.
We’ll be back with four more Rep Rumblings reports, mostly addressing the 2023 draft class, the latest in the USFL or XFL, scouting change buzz, agent movement and other football business updates.
In Succeed in Football, we’ll look at the game as we close in on the draft and, simultaneously, prepare for active play in two credible alternative leagues, a rarity and a blessing for all who coach, scout or play football.
We’ll break down the top prospects at Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State and Auburn as part of our Profile Report series.
If you’re preparing for this summer’s agent exam, we recommend you begin studying immediately if you haven’t already. Our exam prep aids are time-tested and accepted across the industry. Here’s a look at what we offer.
That’s what next week looks like. Need help getting where you need to be in the game?
We can help. Don’t believe us? Come and see.
Neil Stratton
The ITL practice agent exam
Partner, XFL
Board Member, College Gridiron Showcase, 2016-22
Special advisor, '11 Eastham Energy College All-Star Game
Executive Director, '08 Hula Bowl
Personnel Director, '07 Inta Juice North-South All-Star Classic
President, Inside the League
www.insidetheleague.com
www.succeedinfootball.com
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“I have worked with Neil for 6 years in the areas of college football and the sport agent industry. I could not have worked with a more professional and detailed-oriented individual that a has pulse on the industry. In addition, he has developed a tremendous sport agent education program that I would highly recommend for all Division I football programs and compliance offices to look into and bring him on their campuses. There is never enough education in this area. Neil brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in this area.”
Brian Battle, Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance, Florida State University
“Neil was a fountain of information when we were narrowing down the agent selection process for Connor. He knew detailed information and background on nearly every agency we asked about, though he never advocated any, and he always had time for us. It was invaluable assistance in selecting the perfect firm for Connor.”
Margaret Bailey, mother of Cincinnati DE/TE/OLB Connor Barwin, the 46th pick (second round) in the 2009 NFL draft by the Houston Texans
