Bottles of alcohol. Dec. 28, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — When the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee starts later this month, bars and restaurants in 14 counties will be able to stay open until 4 a.m. for the four-day event, but it appears unlikely a similar bar time extension will be made for next April’s NFL Draft in Green Bay.
Just a few blocks from where the NFL Draft will be held, Badger State Brewing wasn’t anticipating staying open past its normal hours when the possibility was first raised about two months ago.
“For us being a smaller team, our goal was kind of let’s keep our same hours so that our team and guests can get some rest, because it’s going to be a long weekend,” said Jen Radloff, the event director for Badger State.
The idea of extending bar hours for the draft was brought up with other liquor license provisions in a Green Bay city committee meeting in April.
Since then, key stakeholders say there has been no known effort to keep bars open later than 2 a.m. for the draft.
Scott Stenger, who deals with government affairs for the Tavern League of Wisconsin, says an extension for the draft is not a priority.
The city of Green Bay and village of Ashwaubenon also aren’t pursuing it.
State approval would be needed for longer bar hours. Governor Tony Evers signed off on the 4 a.m. bar time for the Republican National Convention.
The move was made for the RNC as convention activities go well into the night and participants are often looking for food and drink after, later than normal.
Packers Director of Public Affairs Aaron Popkey recently said that isn’t the case with the draft, and the Packers saw no need for an extension when the idea was raised when speaking with state officials about funding for the draft.
“As we looked at our event, we said we’re not that type of event,” said Popkey during a meeting of the Lombardi Neighborhood Association on June 19th. “There’s food and beverage available during the day. We see no need to have it extend beyond the normal time. So, we said no thank you.”
“I think it’s just in everybody’s safety and probably staffing best interests at this time,” said Radloff. “If that changes, we’ll definitely go with the flow.”
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