Jeff Mordock & Liam Griffin | May 6, 2025
(The Washington Times) — President Trump announced Monday that the 2027 NFL draft will be held at the National Mall, the first time it will be held in the nation’s capital since 1941.
Drafts of that era were decidedly low-key affairs, but the event has since mushroomed into the NFL’s premier offseason draw. The multiday football festival attracts hundreds of thousands of fans to host cities.
“The draft is a celebration of one of our country’s most cherished cultural institutions and the annual highlights for football fans everywhere,” Mr. Trump said. “Everyone in the world is going to be watching.”
Mr. Trump made the announcement from the Oval Office with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, who played eight seasons in the NFL.
During the three-day event, NFL teams will select incoming rookies from the 2027 class of prospects. It will be the first time on the Mall. The 1941 NFL draft was held at the Willard Hotel downtown.
Ms. Bowser predicted that the draft would attract 1 million people to the District of Columbia and provide a financial boost.
“We believe in investing in sports because they have helped us transform neighborhoods, and the NFL bringing this event to the nation’s capital will help us fill hotel rooms, our restaurants, and Americans from all 50 states will come to their nation’s capital and enjoy our beautiful city and museums,” she said.
From 1965 to 2014, the draft was held in New York City, mostly in nondescript office settings. It has since rotated to different cities, becoming a public event and host-city showcase.
More than 600,000 people attended the three-day extravaganza in Green Bay, Wisconsin, this year. The draft is scheduled to be in Pittsburgh next year.
Early reactions from NFL die-hards were overwhelmingly positive. The prospect of future NFL stars coming to the nation’s capital is exciting for the region’s football fanatics.
“They’re going to have the draft, which is the center of the sports world — the sports world’s attention — for two or three days,” Eric Bickel, host of the “Sports Junkies” show on local sports-radio station 106.7 The Fan, said Monday morning. “How cool is that?”
Several details must be ironed out.
The National Park Service prohibits alcohol sales on the Mall. That may be an issue for the legions of fans who often celebrate the three-day event with tailgating and beverages.
Organizers can obtain waivers for beer and wine, though government officials have not said whether the NFL would receive that benefit.
Tickets to the draft are free, but local officials believe the tourism revenue would be a needed boon for the city’s economy.
“The NFL Draft will provide football fans with an unforgettable experience while showcasing all that makes Washington, D.C., a world-class destination and the Sports Capital,” Events DC President and CEO Angie Gates said in a statement.
After years of controversy under Redskins/Commanders owner Dan Snyder, the NFL is now embracing the Washington area’s franchise, previously one of the league’s marquee teams.
The Commanders and Ms. Bowser announced last week that the team would return to the District with plans to build a new stadium at the site of RFK Stadium. The Commanders have played in Landover, Maryland, since 1997.
The stadium needs approval from the D.C. Council and is not planned to open until 2030. A vote on the stadium proposal is expected in July.
If approved, the stadium could bring a Super Bowl to the District. Mr. Goodell noted last week that the stadium, which would have a fixed or retractable roof, would “drastically” improve the city’s shot at hosting the league’s title game.
A new domed stadium could attract other high-profile events, such as NCAA basketball’s Final Four or Wrestlemania, in a way that no other venue in the District can.
Although Mr. Trump and the NFL appear to be on the same page, their relationship has been rocky since the 1980s. Mr. Trump and the NFL have had an on-again/off-again feud that began when he owned a team in a rival football league and carried through his first term as president.
In the mid-1980s, Mr. Trump owned the New Jersey Generals in the United States Football League, which had formed as a rival to the NFL. Mr. Trump acted lavishly to lure top talent to the new league, which drew the ire of NFL owners. He landed Herschel Walker, a Heisman Trophy-winning running back, by offering him $5 million over three years in what was then the richest contract in the history of professional football.
Mr. Trump led the other USFL owners in a 1986 lawsuit against the NFL alleging antitrust violations. He predicted that the lawsuit would force the NFL to offer a merger and billions of dollars in damages.
A jury ruled that the NFL had violated antitrust laws but concluded that the USFL’s financial problems were of its own making and awarded only a symbolic $1 in damages. Damages are tripled in antitrust cases, so Mr. Trump’s case yielded the USFL a total of $3. It then folded under the strain of those financial problems and the legal fees incurred to bring the case in a last-ditch effort to save itself.
In 2014, Mr. Trump tried to buy the Buffalo Bills for $1 billion. He was outbid by Terry Pegula, who paid $1.4 billion.
Perhaps the biggest spat was during Mr. Trump’s first term when he criticized players, led by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, for kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality against Black Americans.
Mr. Trump said the protests “disrespect our flag” and called on NFL owners to punish players who took a knee from the field during games. He linked the NFL’s ratings dip at the time to the protests and to new rules aimed at making the game less violent to limit concussions and other head injuries.
In response to his criticism of Kaepernick, some NFL players decided to boycott the traditional White House visit by the Super Bowl champions. In 2018, only three members of the Philadelphia Eagles accepted the invitation, and Mr. Trump rescinded it.
Mr. Trump and the NFL appear to have patched things up. In February, he became the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl. In addition, the NFL removed the “End Racism” message from the end zones last season for the first time since 2021 after Mr. Trump signed an executive order terminating diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The NFL denies that played a role in removing the messaging.
This season, several NFL players were spotted doing the “Trump dance,” moving their arms and fists in a dance similar to what the president did to the Village People’s “YMCA” at the end of his campaign rallies.
Brock Bowers, Nick Bosa, Za’Darius Smith, Malcolm Rodriguez, Calvin Ridley and Nick Westbrook all did the Trump dance during the season.
During a postgame interview with NBC last year, Bosa wore a “Make America Great Again” hat. The NFL fined him $11,255 for violating league rules banning clothing that “contained a personal message.”
Last month, Mr. Trump criticized NFL owners for not drafting University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the first round. In a social media post, he questioned whether owners were “stupid” for not drafting Sanders and predicted he is “all set for greatness.”
Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, was expected to be a top pick but fell to the fifth round, where the Cleveland Browns took him. Numerous reports said the drop was significantly related to off-field matters such as his study habits, his high-profile father and his bad impression during interviews.
