(WLUK) — Brown County municipalities will receive state money to help defray public safety costs from the NFL Draft after all.
Gov. Tony Evers announced Wednesday that the state will allocate more than $1.8 million to the city of Green Bay from the Opportunity Attraction and Promotion Fund program.
According to the city, it will use $961,819.50 and send $681,109.50 to Brown County and $169,173 to the village of Ashwaubenon.
“We’re incredibly grateful to Gov. Evers and WEDC for their critical support in covering public safety expenses related to the NFL Draft,” Green Bay Mayor Genrich said in a news release. “This was a historic event that brought enormous economic benefits to our community and the entire state of Wisconsin. The allocation of this funding recognizes that positive statewide economic effect and protects our local taxpayers from bearing the costs — a win-win for our state’s and our city’s residents.”
“We’re extremely grateful for this grant award and for our continued partnership with the State of Wisconsin, the City of Green Bay, and Brown County,” Ashwaubenon village manager Joel Gregozeski said in a news release. “The success of the NFL Draft was due in large part to the strength of our intergovernmental collaboration.”
The $30 million Opportunity Attraction and Promotion Fund was created in the last two-year state budget. It is administered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
Both Evers, a Democrat, and some Republican lawmakers from Northeast Wisconsin had hoped to include money for NFL Draft public safety in the 2025-27 state budget. Evers proposed $1 million, while State Reps. David Steffen, R-Howard, and Ben Franklin, R-De Pere, proposed $1.25 million.
However, last week, the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee dropped the money from the state budget it is crafting.
Gregozeski says Ashwaubenon spent nearly $209,000 for the draft, including about $169,000 in public safety costs.
Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach previously said $1.25 million split among three municipalities would cover about two-thirds of the county’s costs.
Organizers predicted the draft would add about $94 million to the state’s economy, but that was based on attendance projections of about 240,000 people. With the actual gate numbers estimated at about 600,000 people, the impact is expected to be much larger than anticipated. An economic impact study will be released next month.