U.S. Rep Bob Brady (D-Pa.) said that the '17 NFL Draft "will be held in Philadelphia," but the city "did not confirm that a deal had been made," according to Wendy Ruderman of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Brady on Thursday said that the Draft, held in Chicago the last two years, "would take place in Philadelphia in April." Brady said that Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney "called him Thursday to tell him that the city had agreed to host the draft and to commit" $5M to pull off the three-day event. He added that Kenney "expressed concern about the financial commitment at first but changed his mind after he was convinced that the city could raise the money and not put the burden on taxpayers." Brady said that the Building Trades Union would offer more than $1M toward "building a temporary stage and arena on the Ben Franklin Parkway with seating for about 3,000 spectators." NFL VP/Communications Brian McCarthy in an email wrote, "We have no agreements with any cities to host future drafts." Kenney's Communications Dir Lauren Hitt also said that the city "had not signed a deal with the NFL." But Ruderman notes Brady still "sounded firm and provided details about plans to build the event arena." Brady: "They are going to do it out in the open on the Parkway for three days. It's a three-day draft. They are going to build a stage, and I'm sure they are going to put up some type of enclosure in case it rains. But that's what the NFL wanted. ... They wanted to come here and do that so we just had to guarantee them money" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/8).
