NFL Draft not expected to take place in Minnesota in 2019 or 2020

For those hoping to see the NFL Draft be held in the great state where the Minnesota Vikings call home, it doesn’t look like that will be happening anytime soon.

From 1965 to 2014, representatives for the Minnesota Vikings and every other team around the league would gather together in New York City for the annual NFL Draft. In 2015, the league decided to move the location of the draft to Chicago and the decision ended up being a hit.

Since the move out of the Big Apple in 2015, the organizers of NFL Draft haven’t looked back. The league held the annual event once more in Chicago in 2016, then moved it to Philadelphia in 2017, and it recently just took place in Dallas at the end of April.

With at least part of the draft now being held outside, the NFL has been able to set attendance records for the event since leaving New York City in 2015.

Minnesota Vikings

The recent success of the draft in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Dallas also has a number of other cities around the country interested in hosting the event in the future.

Given that the most recent Super Bowl just took place at U.S. Bank Stadium last February, it’s possible that the NFL and the owners of the Vikings would like to see the draft take place in the Twin Cities one day.

However, that doesn’t look like it will be happening for awhile.

According to a recent report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Nashville appears to be the front-runner to be the host city for next year’s NFL Draft.

Neither Minneapolis or St. Paul, Minnesota are among the five cities being considered to host the event in 2019 or 2020. Nashville, Las Vegas, Denver, Kansas City, and Cleveland/Canton are the places that the league is currently considering for their next two draft locations.

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So for at least another couple of years, it looks like the NFL Draft will not be taking place in the great northern state that the Vikings call home.