Min/Cin Favorites to host the '28/'29 Drafts. Will it ever come to Buffalo?

[SirAndrew]

50 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Isn’t Buffalos more severe?  Maybe I’m wrong about that then, don’t live there never have, just going on what friends have made it sound like who did live there.   I thought you still had wickedly wild weather this time of year.  If I’m wrong on that assumption then I can see it more of a possibility 

Buffalo has a reputation as a winter wonderland because of snow. I’ll never understand why people confuse snow with temperature. Yes, we get more snow than Green Bay, Chicago, or Detroit, but it’s simply incorrect to say that’s it’s significantly colder in Buffalo during April than those cities. I’m surprised so many people here are saying this. 

Edited May 2 by SirAndrew

[Einstein]

NFL saw our new stadium and said "eh... thats not quite what we were thinking of".

[Augie]

3 hours ago, Einstein said:

NFL saw our new stadium and said "eh... thats not quite what we were thinking of".

 

Huh? You don’t love the new stadium???  

 

I understand wanting to show off our shiny new stadium at a draft event. The problem is, the stadium is out in the middle of nowhere. The draft is not a football game, you need other things around besides parking lots and they do not exist anywhere near the stadium. 

 

The draft would have to take place downtown and I’m sure they can make it look better than Pittsburgh did. I still wouldn’t travel to see it, but that’s just me. 

 

Look at it this way, in some respects it’s easier to follow a football game at home on TV. But at the event I still have a football game to watch. I think watching the draft at home is a BILLION times better and easier to follow than standing in Time Square on New Year’s Eve conditions. Sign me up for an hour of that, max. Now, what else am I going to do? 

 

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Edited May 2 by Augie

[machine gun kelly]

New stadium or not, Buffalo doesn't have the hotel infrastructure to support the draft.  Maybe, but I doubt it.  Buffalo is in a declining population and economy.  I loved growing up in Buffalo and proud to say it’s my home of origin, but am just practical.

[JohnnyCash]

1 hour ago, machine gun kelly said:

New stadium or not, Buffalo doesn't have the hotel infrastructure to support the draft.  Maybe, but I doubt it.  Buffalo is in a declining population and economy.  I loved growing up in Buffalo and proud to say it’s my home of origin, but am just practical.

You think Green Bay had the “hotel infrastructure” to support the draft?

[Mr. WEO]

On 5/1/2026 at 2:45 PM, yall said:

No hotels or other attractions near the stadium.

 

You gonna have people pitching tents at Hammer's?

 

 

 

[machine gun kelly]

6 hours ago, JohnnyCash said:

You think Green Bay had the “hotel infrastructure” to support the draft?

JC, no, but we’re not the iconic GB city.  Besides, they haven’t received a draft yet.  I’m not bashing my home, just not hopeful this ever happens.

[CincyBillsFan]

On 5/1/2026 at 1:39 PM, Desert Bills Fan said:

I think that Buffalo building the new stadium out in the suburbs again, makes a great college game, tailgating atmosphere. But they lost the opportunities for things like the NFL draft or hosting a Super Bowl when they didn’t go for a downtown dome within walking  distance of the convention center, hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.

And in the end this was the better choice IMO.  Over the next decade the Bills would have hosted ONE draft party but significantly degraded the game day atmosphere.  Given that there will be about 100 games played at home over that period (preseason, regular season and playoffs) it was a no brainer to keep the stadium where it was.

 

 

 

[wppete]

I read somewhere that this issues in Buffalo could be possibility of bad weather and lack of Hotel spaces to hold such a huge event.  Hope thats not the case though. 

[Gregg]

11 hours ago, wppete said:

I read somewhere that this issues in Buffalo could be possibility of bad weather and lack of Hotel spaces to hold such a huge event.  Hope thats not the case though. 

 

The draft is usually the last weekend in April. Even in WNY is snow really a factor at this point. 

[Starr Almighty]

I went to the draft once it was at MSG  I was seated the entire time and bored. It was the Peyton Manning draft. I screamed Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce as he walked by. The Colts were still in the AFCE back then. Easily the worst thing I've ever been to at the Garden. I don't think I would travel anywhere for a draft. Looking back hopping on the train in my own city was too much traveling 😂

[UKBillFan]

17 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

JC, no, but we’re not the iconic GB city.  Besides, they haven’t received a draft yet.  I’m not bashing my home, just not hopeful this ever happens.

 

I may be misunderstanding your post but Green Bay hosted the draft last year.

[machine gun kelly]

5 hours ago, UKBillFan said:

 

I may be misunderstanding your post but Green Bay hosted the draft last year.

UK, the Packers hosted the draft last year in 2025.  I still think that was more about a historic NFL city, and Buffalo, as much as it’s the best fan base in the country, does not have the infrastructure for hosting a draft.  Besides if anything, they could host it at key bank center downtown, and there are the most hotels down there, and just have specials for the weekend at the new Highmark.

[Mark Vader]

On 5/1/2026 at 11:40 AM, JohnnyCash said:

This is the draft we are talking about, not the SB. 

You are aware of how big an event the draft has turned into, no?

[JohnnyCash]

1 hour ago, Mark Vader said:

You are aware of how big an event the draft has turned into, no?

I am aware.  My point being if GB in the middle of nowhere can figure out a way to host the draft, I would think the Bills organization and the NFL can do the same to host it here in WNY.

 

PS I also believe the numbers the NFL puts out there are inflated, and the majority of people who show up for the draft are locals.  This notion that you need hotel rooms and restaurants for tens of thousands of people is ridiculous

[PetermansRedemption]

I love Football, watch every pro-game and many college games. But the draft is one event you couldn’t pay me to attend. It can be dry enough watching it on TV in my own home, I can’t imagine how boring it would be to actually be there. 

[JohnnyCash]

My one other prediction...

 

When the draft comes to Buffalo, it will be held with the stadium as the backdrop.  There is no room for it downtown.  Not Canalside, Niagara Square or anywhere else. That structure they build for the draft wouldn't fit in either of these areas, let alone hold a 6 figure crowd. The outer harbor is an exception, but who wants to be on the shores of Lake Erie in mid-April.  Not to mention it is a barren wasteland out there.  The stadium site is their best bet...especially if ECC-South can be flattened by then and have the draft held on that side of the stadium.

[djp14150]

On 5/1/2026 at 1:39 PM, Desert Bills Fan said:

I think that Buffalo building the new stadium out in the suburbs again, makes a great college game, tailgating atmosphere. But they lost the opportunities for things like the NFL draft or hosting a Super Bowl when they didn’t go for a downtown dome within walking  distance of the convention center, hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.

Building it downtown would not have brought a Super Bowl ( even if a dome).  Buffalo doesn’t have the hotels for it.  
 

They will host the draft

[sullim4]

Buffalo has a host of problems that even Green Bay doesn't have to deal with.

 

Just getting to Buffalo is difficult.  Green Bay has Milwaukee (which surprisingly has a lot of nonstop flights) less than a 2 hour drive away, and O'Hare is about 3 hours away.  You can fly from almost any airport in the country to ORD.  For Buffalo, you have to connect onto regional jets to BUF or ROC from one of the hubs, or drive from a city like Pittsburgh or Cleveland, which are each longer than 3 hours away.  Why put up with that when MSP or CVG are much easier to get to?  This is something that I struggle with every single year - BUF, GRB, and JAX are the only three NFL cities I can't fly directly into from Seattle.  I have to fly into Toronto and deal with the border to get a reasonable drive, which would not be acceptable for the draft.

 

And yes, the hotel stock is awful, worse than Green Bay.  The Hyatt Regency downtown in Buffalo is an embarrassment, frankly I am surprised Hyatt hasn't pulled their franchise agreement.  The Marriott Harborcenter is good, that is probably where most of the high-ranking NFL execs would end up.  But again, that's a 20 minute drive, probably longer with draft traffic.  And now what do you do if the Sabres are in the playoffs that weekend?  I really doubt Roger Goodell is going to hit up the continental breakfast at the Hampton Inn over in Hamburg, despite its convenience to I-90 lol.

 

And now on top of that, what are you going to do with the draft weekend activities that aren't the draft itself?  Put it all in the parking lot?  But if you do that, where do people park?  Do you move it to downtown Buffalo?  But if you do that, how do people move back and forth between the activities and the draft?

 

I want Buffalo to get a draft but I just don't see it in the cards unless the NFL is willing to sacrifice on a number of things... and I just don't see that happening.

[US Egg]

On 5/3/2026 at 9:19 PM, wppete said:

I read somewhere that this issues in Buffalo could be possibility of bad weather and lack of Hotel spaces to hold such a huge event.  Hope thats not the case though. 

You live here?