After having attended the NFL Draft in Kansas City in 2023, I felt like I had my fill of attending in person. Don’t get me wrong, it was definitely a blast and totally worth it! It was just kind of difficult to keep track of the picks and follow along in the environment. Once again, it was definitely fun, but I’m more of a homebody at heart and as a Green Bay Packers fan who loves the NFL draft, I’d just as soon stay home and watch.
However, that thought completely came to an end the moment I found out the NFL draft will take place in Green Bay. As a Packers fan outside of the state of Wisconsin, it is rare for me to attend events in Green Bay. Matter of fact, I only can count a handful of times that I’ve been to Green Bay. So, of course, I made it a goal of mine to attend.
This is my experience of what I had to do to prepare to attend the draft in Green Bay.
NFL Draft and Lodging
Attending the NFL draft itself is actually free. It’s everything else that’s a little more on the expensive side of things. One of the most expensive parts of attending the draft is the lodging.
As soon as the NFL draft in Detroit ended last year, I searched for and reserved lodging. When I began to look, most hotels were already filling up around Green Bay proper and the lodging that was available was beyond my budget. So, I had to extend my search to the area around Green Bay and thankfully found a place to stay within my budget.
As of today, around the Green Bay area, according to hotels.com, most place are around $350 to $700 a night. The most expensive place is $16,223 which I believe is right next to the staging area. The Appleton area is not as expensive, but I still got a decent bargain by reserving a year in advance.
NFL OnePass
One of the biggest things that I could not forget was registering through the NFL OnePass. The NFL OnePass is your ticket, so to speak, to enter the draft. On March 4th, fans were allowed to register through the NFL OnePass to attend the draft. A person cannot enter without having done so. I made sure to register as soon as I was able to. I did this to make sure that I receive any notifications and updates that might arise leading up to the draft.
If you haven’t done this yet, make sure you do it ASAP!
NFL Draft and Transportation
With many fans, including myself, needing to travel a bit of a distance to attend every day from our lodging, figuring out transportation became the next big priority and really the last logistical hurdle that needed to be taken care of prior to leaving. This is probably a big one for most people. Here is what I learned.
So in Green Bay proper, if attending the NFL draft is beyond walking distance, one can take the local Green Bay public metro. And, of course, there other transportation services like taxis and Uber. There is a really cool thing that the Brown County Tavern League is doing, which is providing free transportation from Lambeau field back to any rented house, home or hotel in Brown county. This wasn’t going to work for me as I am in staying in Appleton, but still, this is something to be aware of for sure.
Outside of Green Bay in areas like Appleton and the Fox cities, shuttle services are available. Fox Cities CVB is providing shuttle services to the NFL draft. The round-trip tickets cost $60 a person. The buses are set to leave at noon, 2pm, and 4pm and return at 9:30PM, 11:00PM, and 12:30AM. Buses will depart from the Fox River Mall. This service is only for hotel guests until April 15th, then it will be made public.
Parking
We chose parking for our option. I have one vehicle but there are three of us in total so it came down to overall pricing. We were considering the shuttle or parking. Since there are three of us going the tickets to ride the shuttle would have cost us $180. We ended up reserving a parking spot at a local business within walking distance of Lambeau Field for $100.
The going rate for parking really depends on how close you want to be to the Draft. Our parking spot is just under 3/4 of a mile. Closer to Lambeau, we found some parking spots around $200 and $250 per day. Some of the parking spots can be reserved and others are first come first serve. We did find a spot that was relatively close to Lambeau for $100 a day but it was first come first serve. We just didn’t want to risk it.
Final Bit of Preparation
After packing, there is just one thing that remains left to do: study up on the draft itself. I’ve been doing that for a while now and have been sharing my thoughts here on PackersTalk. I still need to finalize a few more things for my own head knowledge and I’ll finally be ready for the NFL draft in Green Bay. Next week, I’ll do my annual dueling mock draft and I’ll feel finished.
I couldn’t be more excited! Only ten more days before we head out!
Go Pack Go!
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Damon is a diehard, fully-immersed cheesehead who currently lives in southern Missouri. He teaches at a local high school and has a family YouTube channel about all things Packers. You can follow him on twitter at @packersfamily and on YouTube at The Packers Family.
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