A view of the NFL Draft theater. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – The NFL announced that the 86th NFL Draft will take place in Cleveland in 2021 and the 2023 NFL Draft will be held in Kansas City.
The announcements were made at the annual Spring League Meeting in Key Biscayne, FL following a review of the proposal by the Super Bowl & Major Events Advisory Committee and full ownership.
The 2021 event in Cleveland will bring fans together for free celebrations at iconic downtown locations around FirstEnergy Stadium, including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as well as on the shore of Lake Erie.
A general view of signage during the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
The 2023 NFL Draft will take place in the iconic area around Kansas City’s Union Station and the National World War I Museum and Memorial and will bring together fans to celebrate one of the most-anticipated sports events of the year.
The NFL Draft has become one of the biggest and most-anticipated sporting events of the year. The 2019 Draft reached new heights and record numbers as the highest-rated and most-watched Draft ever, eclipsing previous records set in 2018. The 2019 Draft was broadcast over three days and attracted more than 47.5 million total viewers and over 600,000 in attendance. The NFL Draft achieved a combined 3.9 HH rating and average of 6.1 million viewers across the broadest distribution including NFL Network, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, as well as NFL and ESPN digital and social properties.
The 2020 NFL Draft will be held in Las Vegas.
DRAFT LOCATION HISTORY
| Draft | Location | City |
| 1936 | Ritz-Carlton | Philadelphia |
| 1937 | Hotel Lincoln | New York |
| 1938 | Hotel Sherman | Chicago |
| 1939 | Hotel New Yorker | New York |
| 1940 | Schroeder Hotel | Milwaukee |
| 1941 | Willard Hotel | Washington, D.C. |
| 1942-44 | Palmer House | Chicago |
| 1945-47 | Hotel Commodore | New York |
| 1948 | Hotel Fort Pitt | Pittsburgh |
| 1949-50 | Bellevue-Stratford Hotel | Philadelphia |
| 1951 | Blackstone Hotel | Chicago |
| 1952 | Hotel Statler | New York |
| 1953-54 | Bellevue-Stratford Hotel | Philadelphia |
| 1955 | Warwick Hotel | New York |
| 1956 | Bellevue-Stratford Hotel (Rounds 1-3) | Philadelphia |
| | Ambassador Hotel (Rounds 4-30) | Los Angeles |
| 1957 | Warwick Hotel (Rounds 1-4) | Philadelphia |
| | Bellevue-Stratford Hotel (Rounds 5-30) | Philadelphia |
| 1958-61 | Warwick Hotel | Philadelphia |
| 1962-64 | Sheraton Hotel | Chicago |
| 1965-66 | Summit Hotel | New York |
| 1967 | Hotel Gotham | New York |
| 1968-71 | Belmont Plaza Hotel | New York |
| 1972 | Essex House | New York |
| 1973-74 | Americana Hotel | New York |
| 1975 | Hilton Hotel | New York |
| 1976-78 | Roosevelt Hotel | New York |
| 1979 | Waldorf | New York |
| 1980-83 | Sheraton Hotel | New York |
| 1984-85 | Omni Park Central Hotel | New York |
| 1986-94 | Marriott Marquis | New York |
| 1995-2004 | Theatre at Madison Square Garden | New York |
| 2005 | Jacob Javits Convention Center | New York |
| 2006-2014 | Radio City Music Hall | New York |
| 2015-16 | Auditorium Theatre at Roosevelt University | Chicago |
| 2017 | Benjamin Franklin Parkway | Philadelphia |
| 2018 | AT&T Stadium | Dallas |
| 2019 | Downtown Nashville | Nashville |
| 2020 | Las Vegas Boulevard and Surrounding Areas | Las Vegas |
| 2021 | Downtown Cleveland | Cleveland |
| 2022 | TBD | TBD |
| 2023 | Downtown Kansas City | Kansas City |
