PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The economic benefit from hosting the NFL Draft will be felt throughout the state of Wisconsin, but there will still be some cost to taxpayers.
The investment was known when Green Bay bid to get the draft and is typical when different regions are competing to host a coveted event.
With 240,000 people expected to attend the three-day NFL Draft next month, the opportunity for people in Wisconsin to profit is unlike any other before.
To keep all those people safe is expected to cost the city of Green Bay more than $1 million.
“We’re very happy to take on some financial burden, just given the community benefit, the larger statewide economic benefit and regional benefit, but it is a financial burden for us to take on,” said Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich.
Genrich says the city hasn’t put together exact numbers yet for expenses associated with the draft. The village of Ashwaubenon hasn’t either, but says it has currently set aside about $295,000.
Brown County has put its draft-related costs at $1.06 million. About two-thirds of that is for the sheriff’s department.
Gov. Tony Evers has requested $1 million in the state budget to reimburse public safety costs related to the draft.
Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach says the hope is the Legislature will put the number closer to $2 million.
“We’ve seen the state of Wisconsin contribute to other areas of the state when there was a statewide impact,” sad Streckenbach.
Streckenbach says money included in the state budget may be split between Brown County, Green Bay and Ashwaubenon.
“I know that in talking with the mayor and the village president that we’ve come to an understanding that is it a fair split evenly. Is it a percentage based on our total budgets and what are those budgets and what those budgets represent?” said Streckenbach. He says the hope is to come to an agreement sooner rather than later.
“Our understanding was never that all that money was going to go to the city of Green Bay,” said Genrich. “I think our impression was the city was kind of acting as a fiscal agent.”
The state already earmarked $2 million in the last two-year state budget for draft-related marketing efforts.
The Packers say that money is included in an $8.5 million budget the local host committee presented to the NFL when vying to bring the draft here. $1 million of that is from the Packers and up to $1.2 million will come from the Stadium District Board – depending on revenue generated from non-Packers events at Lambeau Field.
The rest of the money from the host committee budget comes from donors. Packers Director of Public Affairs Aaron Popkey says 17 local entities, including one individual, provided contributions to help put on the draft.
Popkey says the host committee budget will pay for things like site prep, daily cleaning, waste management, third party staffing, IT improvements and promotion.
The Packers have long said they’ll be taking a financial loss in hosting the draft — saying they’ll only recover minimal revenue through the Pro Shop. Besides chipping in $1 million cash, the team says providing its facilities is a value of $1.7 million, considering the rental revenue it is losing from not being able to host other events.
Besides parking income, the city says its revenue opportunities are also limited.
“The community benefit is so substantial that it justifies the city and our other local partners taking on some of that burden,” said Genrich.
The county has a few more possible streams, but say they are difficult to project at this point.
“What’s going to be the gate at the Neville Public Museum? We’re not sure at this point,” said Streckenbach. “Right now, we know our parks are essentially recouping a lot of their investment, or part of their investment.”
Streckenbach says county campsite reservations were nearly filled the last time he received an update.
The projected statewide economic impact is $94 million, with $20 million of that being felt locally.
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