Nashville rakes in record $133 million in direct spending from NFL Draft
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — The NFL Draft in Nashville generated a record $133 million in direct spending, the NFL and Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp announced Wednesday. Nashville's draft numbers mark a 79 percent increase over the $74 million at the 2018 Dallas event.
“The 2019 NFL Draft exceeded all expectations,” said Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. “Nashville had record spending, record attendance, record viewership and a record number of credentialed media — the biggest and best NFL Draft ever. The overall success is due to the tremendous spirit of collaboration within the city, including the Tennessee Titans, and our great Metro departments.”
The NFL Draft in Nashville was broadcast around the globe in a record 115 countries. The three-day event from April 25-27 drew a crowd of 600,000 and 47.5 million TV viewers.
“The NFL Draft in Nashville outperformed even our lofty expectations and set the bar for future NFL events,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL Executive Vice President, Club Business and League Events. “We are grateful to the Tennessee Titans, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, the City of Nashville, the volunteers and the fans who made this unforgettable event the most-watched and most-attended Draft ever.”
According to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp's survey, 54 percent of people who went to the NFL Draft were visitors and 46 percent were local.
Visitor spending included the following categories:
Lodging: 32.1 percent
The average visitor's party size was 3.2 people along with an average length of stay of 2.8 nights. 75 percent of visitors attended multiple days of the draft. 21 percent of surveyed visitors stayed at Airbnb and VRBO rentals. 51.1 percent stayed in hotels, 16.6 percent with friends and family and 11.3 percent with other accommodations.
April 2019 was also marked the third best month in Nashville's history in the number of hotel rooms sold.
Recreation (attractions, museums, etc.): 21.5 percent
81 percent of visitors surveyed said the NFL Draft was their main reason for coming to Nashville. Also, more than 20 Nashville-based acts represented Music City in NFL Draft performances.
Food and Beverage: 17.7 percent
Retail: 16.2 percent
Transportation (excludes plane tickets): 12.5 percent
33 percent of visitors said they flew, while 67 percent drove, according to the survey.
The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp claims the NFL Draft generated $10.6 million in taxes and fees for Davidson County. The survey's results came from onsite surveys, STR hotel data, NFL data and the Event Impact Calculator, the industry standard tool developed by Tourism Economics & Destinations International.
