Kroll\u2019s West restaurant expected to be bustling when Green Bay hosted the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
Located across from iconic Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, the Wisconsin eatery seemed to be in an ideal spot just outside the event\u2019s footprint.<\/p>\n
There were high hopes for a surge in hungry customers, said Ann Pierquet, one of the restaurant\u2019s managers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expected wall-to-wall people, busy from morning to night. We had a full crew on, full staff, full menu, extra product, extra everything,\u201d Pierquet told TribLive recently.<\/p>\n
But those hopes were dashed. The restaurant, Pierquet lamented, \u201cwasn\u2019t busy at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once people went through the draft\u2019s entry gates, she said, they didn\u2019t venture out to spend money at local businesses outside the perimeter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a lot left over,\u201d Pierquet said.<\/p>\n
She estimated the restaurant is typically about 50% to 75% busier during a regular-season football game than it was during the draft.<\/p>\n
Asked what she would tell Pittsburgh businesses that are gearing up for the event, Pierquet offered a note of caution: \u201cI would say don\u2019t rely on the draft to bring extra business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unanswered attendance questions<\/p>\n
Officials in Pittsburgh have tossed out eye-popping numbers when talking about how much money the NFL Draft could generate when it takes over Downtown and the North Shore this month.<\/p>\n
Tourism agency Visit Pittsburgh predicted the three-day event, from April 23-25, will draw upwards of 500,000 fans and generate an economic impact in the range of $120 million to $213 million.<\/p>\n
Jerad Bachar, president and CEO of Visit Pittsburgh, said those estimates are based on what other cities experienced when hosting the draft in recent years. Various factors \u2014 such as how well the weather cooperates \u2014 could impact the final figures.<\/p>\n
Although the numbers may sound impressive, it doesn\u2019t actually mean that more than a half-million out-of-towners will descend on the Steel City\u2019s hotels and Airbnbs. It also doesn\u2019t necessarily mean local businesses \u2014 or the city itself \u2014 will see the surge of desired income.<\/p>\n
Bachar earlier this year told TribLive that when officials say between 500,000 and 700,000 people will come to the draft, they\u2019re counting in that tally locals who already live in and around Pittsburgh. But they\u2019re also expecting lots of football fans to make the trip from other NFL towns that are relatively close, like Cleveland, Philadelphia and Baltimore.<\/p>\n
Visit Pittsburgh has not provided a breakdown of its expectations for local versus visiting fans.<\/p>\n
It also has not clarified whether projections reflect unique visitors or repeat counts of the same person on multiple days, a practice employed at other drafts.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Visit Pittsburgh\u2019s draft organizing committee said the tourism agency will work with Sportsimpacts, a market research firm focused on sports, to conduct an independent economic impact assessment after the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe analysis will focus specifically on spending attributable to the NFL Draft, including visitor lodging, dining, transportation, retail and entertainment, as well as event-related operational spending,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
The analysis will include spending during the three-day event, as well as related travel and longer stays before and after the draft. It will focus on Allegheny County and consider surrounding areas \u201cexperiencing measurable draft-related visitation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Based in St. Louis, Sportsimpacts assessed the economic impact of the last two drafts in Green Bay and Detroit, and conducted analyses for Super Bowls and NCAA championships, according to Visit Pittsburgh\u2019s draft committee.<\/p>\n
Sportsimpacts did not respond to multiple interview requests.<\/p>\n
$104 million impact<\/p>\n
Green Bay, which has about 107,000 residents, drew more than 600,000 fans to last year\u2019s draft over three days, according to the NFL and Discover Green Bay.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a catch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you go all three days, you\u2019re counted as three people,\u201d said Brad Toll, president and CEO of Discover Green Bay.<\/p>\n
The total number of unique individuals was actually around 360,000, Toll said.<\/p>\n
Still, Green Bay exceeded economic impact projections. Officials had estimated the draft would generate about $94 million. They were pleasantly surprised when the figure turned out to be more than $104 million, Toll said.<\/p>\n
To come up with that number, officials surveyed people attending the draft and tracked aggregate credit card usage, he said.<\/p>\n
Hotels, he said, were full. He couldn\u2019t estimate how packed they would typically be at that time of year without a major event.<\/p>\n
No screams for ice cream<\/p>\n
Despite the impressive economic impact figures, Toll said, some businesses \u2014 like Kroll\u2019s West \u2014 found the experience lackluster. They didn\u2019t see the throngs of customers they expected.<\/p>\n
Featured Local Businesses<\/p>\n
Toll said some businesses that fared better offered shuttles to and from the draft. Making it convenient for people to get back to the main event, he said, seemed to be a key to success.<\/p>\n
The local Cold Stone Creamery found few football fans willing to sneak away for dessert.<\/p>\n
The ice cream shop closed early one day because business was so bad, assistant manager Isac Rios said. Staffers archly posted to social media a video captioned \u201cThe Draft is going to bring in so many people!\u201d that showed the shop empty and the freezers full.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were expecting a huge rush,\u201d Rios said. \u201cWe overprepared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dinner timing<\/p>\n
Makenzie Wolters, a spokesperson at Visit Kansas City, said Green Bay\u2019s experience wasn\u2019t singular. Kansas City saw the same phenomenon when hosting the draft in 2023.<\/p>\n
That year, the draft spurred nearly $109 million in direct spending at businesses and hotels during the three-day event, Wolters said. That figure, she said, balloons to $164 million when factoring in \u201cindirect spending,\u201d like businesses buying more food or the NFL hiring subcontractors to prepare a stage for the event.<\/p>\n
Still, she said, the spending was \u201cvery focused on the draft footprint right there\u201d with less of a boost for businesses beyond the event\u2019s location.<\/p>\n
Wolters said part of the challenge for local restaurants was that the key moments in the draft coincide with peak dinner time \u2014 meaning people opted to stay at the NFL\u2019s event when local restaurateurs had hoped they would venture out for a bite to eat.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 7 p.m. when you might want to be out getting dinner with your friends and family, everybody wanted to be at the draft site,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Wolters said some people who would typically patronize local businesses shied away, wary of the crowds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe potentially overstressed how busy it would be at times, which led to some regular visitors who could come for vacation or to visit family \u2014 and even residents who live here \u2014 kind of avoiding the downtown area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Not a lifeline<\/p>\n
Visit Pittsburgh\u2019s Bachar told TribLive that the city\u2019s tourism agency is conscious of the troubles that plagued businesses in past host cities. He acknowledged that businesses outside of the event footprint shouldn\u2019t \u201coverprepare for a large influx\u201d of customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese fans are focused on the site itself,\u201d he said. \u201cThey want to be where the excitement is. They want to be where the energy is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake Haulk, president of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, fears the impressive numbers the NFL and tourism agencies cite are \u201ccarried away.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, a host city might see its hotel occupancy reach 100% during the draft. But if hotels would normally be 68% full around that time of year \u2014 as is the case in Pittsburgh \u2014 then the draft is increasing business for hotels by about 32%. Therefore, Haulk contends, analysts should count only about 32% of spending at hotels as a boost from the draft.<\/p>\n
Restaurants that already fill up won\u2019t realistically be able to do that much more business, Haulk said, even if people do venture outside the draft footprint. A restaurant that would typically be full anyway can push capacity only so far.<\/p>\n