Report: Broncos, Denver submit bid to host 2020 NFL Draft

Joe Ellis and the Denver Broncos have put in their bid to host the NFL Draft in 2020, according to Nicki Jhabvala at The Denver Post.

That year marks the 100th anniversary of the NFL, and would be a huge get. Ellis, the president and CEO of the organization, thinks the Mile High City and the Rocky Mountains would be perfect to host the event. If Denver is not selected for 2020, Ellis told The Post the Broncos would put in for 2021, 2022 or 2023.

As it stands now, the likely home of the event could be the Colorado Convention Center. As The Post points out, the Broncos have wanted to put in bids for prior drafts but ran into scheduling issues. That’s not likely to change given the continued growth of Denver and the metropolitan area, but the draft would serve as a huge boon for the city, state and region.

One thing the Broncos, city and NFL could do is hold the event at Civic Center Park, similar to what the Philadelphia Eagles and Philly did with the Museum of Art. In the most recent draft, the NFL created a 3,000-seat theater on the steps of the museum. As The Post said, the three-day event drew 250,000 people. The same could be done with Civic Center Park and the City and County Building — similar to the Super Bowl parade for the Broncos.

Ellis to The Post:

“The draft is something we’d really like to see accomplished. I think it’d be nice for Mr. B (owner Pat Bowlen), to know that the city he’s witnessed tremendous support from in terms of what they’ve done for the Broncos and how important the Broncos are to people and how important football is to people.

“We’ve put in an application for 2020 and that may or may not come to fruition depending on how the league feels about when they’re going to honor 100th season. … We believe it would be a great thing for the city, a great thing for Colorado, a great thing for this Rocky Mountain region. It would draw a lot of people and would be a really fun event.”

Ellis told The Post that in his conversations with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his staff about the Broncos’/Denver’s interests, “if we put the right package together, we have an excellent chance.”

As for the Super Bowl, Ellis said the NFL and the committee that choose the city for the game has cooled on cold-weather locations after New York. Ellis told The Post they will continue to gauge that and see if it changes at some point.