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Josh Harris on the NFL Draft in Washington D.C.: “I’m hoping we break 1 million in terms of the visitors”

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The NFL draft is coming to D.C. in 2027

The NFL draft is officially coming to Washington D.C. in 2027! Reports came out last night that the franchise has won their bid to be the host city for NFL’s traveling draft circus. The three-day event will be held on the National Mall. The podium on the stage will look out towards the Washington Monument.

Today’s announcement happened in the Oval Office with President Trump, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Washington Commanders managing partner Josh Harris, and Washington D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser.

“I’m hoping we break 1 million in terms of the visitors,” Harris told The Washington Post in a video conference call Monday, before the announcement. “ … And so there’ll be a million — plus or minus, a million visitors — and then all those people will create a lot of economic activity.”

O’Reilly said the plans for staging the draft “could evolve a bit” over time. For now, those plans including having the main draft theater sit on the National Mall in front of the Capitol, on Fourth Street between Jefferson and Madison drives, near the National Gallery of Art and the National Air and Space Museum.

A person standing at the podium on the draft stage would look out toward the Washington Monument. The backstage area would be on Third Street between Jefferson and Madison. The NFL’s Draft Experience, the league’s expansive fan festival, would largely be on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between Fourth and Seventh streets.

“But that core, free, accessible fan viewing area will be on the Mall,” O’Reilly said. He added that more than 20 NFL teams and cities have expressed interest in hosting a draft.