Minneapolis Is Hosting the 2028 NFL Draft: What It Means for the Twin Cities
The Twin Cities Is Getting the NFL Draft
NFL owners voted today to officially award the 2028 NFL Draft to Minneapolis-St. Paul, giving Minnesota one of the most attended free events on the professional sports calendar. It is the first NFL Draft in the state and the biggest NFL event here since Super Bowl LII brought $370 million into the region back in 2018.
Downtown Minneapolis will serve as the primary site, with the event footprint expanding outward to St. Paul, the Mall of America, and the Vikings Lakes development in Eagan, home to TCO Performance Center and the Omni Vikings Lakes Hotel. The scope of this event is regional, not just a downtown weekend.
What the Economic Impact Looks Like
The NFL Draft is expected to generate around $200 million in economic activity for the Twin Cities region, according to Minnesota Sports and Events president and CEO Wendy Blackshaw. Cities like Detroit and Nashville both cleared that mark. Even Green Bay, a smaller market, pulled in approximately $73 million from hosting last year's draft, with a statewide figure of nearly $105 million for Wisconsin.
One significant advantage the draft holds over the Super Bowl is accessibility. The event is completely free to attend. That means the fan base is not limited to ticket buyers, which is a major driver of the massive attendance figures the NFL has seen since moving the draft to rotating host cities starting in 2015.
A Long Time Coming for Minnesota
The Vikings organization began pursuing the draft as far back as 2019. Tuesday's vote ends a seven-year effort by the team and Minnesota Sports and Entertainment to bring the event home. The announcement came out of the NFL's spring league meeting in Orlando, where owners cast their votes.
Minneapolis-St. Paul joins Detroit (2024) and Green Bay (2025) as the third NFC North market to host the draft in a five-year window, a stretch that speaks to the quality of the markets in that division.
What This Means for Twin Cities Residents
Events of this scale touch more than the immediate host venue. Hotels, restaurants, retail corridors, and neighborhoods across the metro see increased traffic during multi-day events that draw hundreds of thousands of visitors. For communities in the east metro and throughout the suburbs, the ripple effect of a regional event this size tends to show up in ways that go beyond the draft weekend itself, from infrastructure investments to longer-term visibility as a destination market.
Thinking about buying or selling in the Twin Cities? Let's talk. Text Darin Bjerknes at 612-702-5126 or DM on Instagram @darintheminnesotan.
