CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Wednesday morning a line of semis formed on the north side of FirstEnergy Stadium, ready to deliver more pieces for the massive stage and theatre that will host the 2021 NFL Draft.
Workers began assembling the massive structure that, when completed, will stand some 90 feet tall.
“It's a really exciting day for us to see the stage starting to be erected,” Michael Mulhall, vice president of business development at the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, said. “Awesome to see steel start to go up and cranes out there.
“In three weeks we'll be welcoming tens of thousands of fans from all over the United States to experience the NFL Draft here in Cleveland.”
The draft theater will include a special socially distanced 'green room' for prospects to wait until their name is called.
It remains to be seen just how many fans will be able to attend the festivities around the Draft but whatever the number is, the plan is to make the experience fun – and safe – for everyone.
“We have not determined officially what the number of fans are,” Mulhall said. “We continue to work with state and local officials. Look, we want to invite as many fans as we can safely do.”
The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission helped to raise between $4-5 million so Cleveland could host the three-day event, a process undertaken four years ago with the help of the Cleveland Browns and Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
For fans, the NFL Experience, a massive collection of interactive events and exhibits, will be the primary opportunity to enjoy the draft on the shores of Lake Erie. It will be located at north coast harbor spanning the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to the west side of FirstEnergy Stadium and part of the lakefront.
“It’s a theme park essentially,” Mulhall said.
Fans can register for free tickets by going to nfl.com/draft or by downloading the NFL's OnePass app, which will be required to attend.
COVID-19 protocols will keep the NFL Draft theatre off limits to the general public. Front row seats to the actual 2021 NFL Draft will be by invitation only.
“That will be all invite through the NFL and local Cleveland partners,” Mulhall said. “We don’t know those numbers yet. We’re still working through that.”
There will be massive video boards located throughout the NFL Draft Experience for fans to be able to watch the draft in progress during their attendance window.
Event planners were originally preparing to host hundreds of thousands of fans but those numbers will be drastically reduced due to the pandemic. The good news is the event will go on after last year's Draft scheduled for Las Vegas had to be cancelled and the NFL went virtual.
“It’s not going to be Nashville, right. We all know that,” Mulhall said. “We’re just super excited to be back in business. We haven’t hosted an event in over a year. We look at this as the springboard for NBA All-Star game, which we’re already planning for next February. We have the NCAA Women’s Final Four in 2024.
“This is really our coming out party as a community. It’s going to be a tremendous boost to our hospitality industry and we’re focusing on what the draft will be for Cleveland, not what it won’t be.”