2019, 2020 NFL Draft Host City Finalists Revealed

Denver; Kansas City, Missouri; Las Vegas; Nashville, Tennessee; and a joint bid between Cleveland and Canton, Ohio—home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame—are the finalists to host the 2019 or 2020 NFL draft.

Adam Schefter of ESPN provided the update Thursday.

Oakland Raiders president Marc Badain expressed optimism in November about Las Vegas' ability to attract high-end NFL events like the draft and Super Bowl with the organization set to move to the city in the coming years, per Richard N. Velotta of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

"We've had productive dialogue with the NFL, we had meetings a few weeks ago, and they laid out the process for the NFL draft as well as future Super Bowls. And I'll just tell you that we had very positive feedback for the draft to be awarded for 2019 and 2020 and we have a meeting in about three weeks in Dallas to make a presentation for Las Vegas to be the host for one of those drafts and the Super Bowl for the year 2024 or 2025."

Meanwhile, Pro Football Hall of Fame president David Baker has been angling for the 2019 draft, which will coincide with the NFL's 100th season, since 2015. As Michael Beaven of the Akron Beacon Journal noted that year, Baker said the Hall of Fame would "fight awful hard for this thing."

"Where is there a better place to hold an NFL draft in the 100th season of the league than the birthplace of the NFL?" Pete Fierle, the Hall's vice president of communications, added.

The 2018 NFL draft will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys, beginning April 26.

Schefter reported an announcement about the location of the next two drafts is expected during the league's spring meeting in May.