Why Orlando?
May 7th, 2014
Why would the NFL hold the draft in Orlando?
NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell has floated the idea of moving the NFL Draft around to different cities other than New York. Joe isn’t sure if it would be all three days or only one day – or perhaps a new four-day draft, as has been speculated. There are no specifics.
Well, it seems the NFL is farther down the path of making this roving draft site a reality. A variety of cities have applied for the right to host an NFL draft, per Bert Hubbard of the New York Post.
@HubbuchNYP: NFL source tells me the following cities have applied to host draft: New Orleans, Boston, Philly, Orlando, Chicago, L.A. and Canton, Ohio.
Yes, you read that correctly. No Tampa. But Orlando. ORLANDO?! Why in the name of Sabby the Goat would the NFL ever consider Orlando? It has no NFL team. It will never get an NFL team. At least Los Angeles had — and probably will get — an NFL team. Canton has the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Orlando has suffocating traffic; perhaps the worst this side of Chicago. Orlando is Lakeland with a theme park.
Joe isn’t sure where the draft would be held in the Tampa Bay area. If the draft is moving to later in May, which has been rumored, aren’t most venues booked with graduation ceremonies? The Ice Palace seems to be the only viable option. Doubt they would hold the draft at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.
Maybe the Tampa Convention Center would be a good site?
May 7th, 2014 at 4:04 pm
I don’t even think I’ll watch the 2015 draft because of the horrid direction the NFL is moving
May 7th, 2014 at 4:06 pm
Destin would be the spot
May 7th, 2014 at 4:09 pm
I’m guessing BSPN would have something to do with the Orlando idea
May 7th, 2014 at 4:09 pm
LMAO Lakeland with a theme park!
May 7th, 2014 at 4:15 pm
Zzzzzz
May 7th, 2014 at 4:16 pm
Can’t anybody think outside of the box. They hold it for three days out at the Tradewind’s Beach or Clearwater Beach.
They draw mobs of young males looking for an excuse to head down to the sunshine and they sprinkle the beach with hot babes…yes Joe including Rachel Watson.
Seriously. Think of what a major blowout you could have.
May 7th, 2014 at 4:18 pm
Oh yeah, they’re considering moving the draft back EVEN more next year. Please, I beg all of you to not watch it on TV. Follow it online, but don’t give ESPN or NFLN the TV ratings, as this will justify them moving it back again. Goodell is a cancer who has to go before he destroys the golden goose.
May 7th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
What’s the deal with Goldsons ankle?
May 7th, 2014 at 4:28 pm
You haven’t seen traffic until you’ve met the I4 / I75 interchange on game day!
The draft is a MEDIA event, not a spectator sport! You could hold it in a Holiday Inn Express in Micanopy and still get TV coverage you’re looking for.
Good lord…. we’re not hosting the Super Bowl.
May 7th, 2014 at 4:33 pm
@ Destinjohnny
Hell yeah! I live in Navarre, so I am down with that!!
May 7th, 2014 at 4:37 pm
Why not Vegas
May 7th, 2014 at 4:40 pm
Ummm it’s pretty easy to see why Orlando…
ABC-Disney-ESPN. Simple as that.
May 7th, 2014 at 4:43 pm
Orlando is crap i lived there my thoughts were what’s the hype about Orlando just has theme parks
May 7th, 2014 at 4:54 pm
Orlando, Give me a break! Without Disney, it would still be the two red light backwater podunk speed through speedtrap of my youth.
May 7th, 2014 at 4:56 pm
What a boom to the economy, the hooker population is exploding, lots of money to be made. Just keep Grady Judd clear. Judd has a way of sniffing such stuff out and throwing everyone in jail. Good expesnive ones down in the tourist corridor, if you are short of funds O.B.T.
May 7th, 2014 at 5:20 pm
Disney Joe! Disney! haha that is the only thing I can think of….
May 7th, 2014 at 5:34 pm
Joe – the traffic in Tampa is much worse than the traffic in Orlando.
Deminion – Sure, I’d take Pinellas County’s beaches over the parks and the god-awful tourist/hooker hellhole that is International Drive; but the only people who go to these tourist traps are tourists! Locals don’t go anywhere the tourist corridor. Take away the beaches and the tourist traps and Tampa and Orlando are pretty much the same town.
May 7th, 2014 at 5:37 pm
On a side note, if the Glazer kids were smart, they would do a lot more marketing in Orange/Osceola/Seminole counties, because the Bucs’ presence there is pretty much non-existent.
May 7th, 2014 at 5:56 pm
Can you imagine how INSANE the traffic will be, on the Dan Ryan during rush hour w/ the draft in town?
May 7th, 2014 at 6:07 pm
Disney isn’t actually in Orlando guys… I thought only tourists thought that.
May 7th, 2014 at 6:15 pm
Why Orlando?
It’s a neutral site. There’s a huge diversity in terms of NFL fans here. It’s a tourist destination. There’s the Amway Center that can hold more than enough people. There’s the ridiculously large Convention Center that can hold more than enough people. Tampa’s “suffocating traffic” is every bit as insane as Tampa’s.
May 7th, 2014 at 6:25 pm
1 Hour to Tampa, 2 Hours to Jax, and 3 Hours to Miami.
May 7th, 2014 at 6:32 pm
@orlampa turd lol orange blossom trail
May 7th, 2014 at 6:34 pm
“I don’t even think I’ll watch the 2015 draft because of the horrid direction the NFL is moving”…Nick H
I agree %100…they have TAKEN a wonderful Saturady afternoon tradition runds 1-3…and turned the evento a torturous media idiot vs idiot speculatve spectical…it pains my soul…
May 7th, 2014 at 6:51 pm
Orlando makes a ton of sense. It’s a vacation destination. They can handle the influx of people with ease. Their downtown area has it right (Tampa…I’m looking at you). It’s a warm weather destination. I don’t see how that is a bad idea at all? And it’s neutral. Hey Joe, please stop exposing your inability to think something through logically…..it’s making Manziel look bad!:)
May 7th, 2014 at 7:23 pm
O town would be great, draftees and families would have a blast! NFL could add events and make it a Draft Week Extravaganza! $$$
May 7th, 2014 at 7:29 pm
The Buccaneers have many fans here in Orlando. Many of those Orlando Buccaneer fans look for Buccaneer news and participate in discussions on sites that talk Buccaneers.
Many of these Orlando fans of the Buccaneers make their living from the hotels and attractions we have in our area. Most of us work hard every day profit from tourism in a perfectly honest and legal way. Then we spend our free time and extra money on our favorite football team. We visit websites that are loaded with advertisers and Hooter calendar girls.
Orlando has three teams designated by the NFL for local TV territorial rights. We watch the Bucs, the Dolphins and the Jags. None of these cities were mentioned in the rumor as being a possible site for an NFL draft.
L.A., Canton and Boston (Foxborough is not Boston, hence the name New England) don’t have NFL teams either but you are upset because Orlando is mentioned.
It’s only rumored, it doesn’t mean anything.
But it does reveal your attitude toward your neighbors. The same neighbors you profit from in web hits. Well, good luck with that business model.
May 7th, 2014 at 7:38 pm
The best part of it all would be not having to hear the chant. J. E. T. S. Jets Jets Jets all day long.
May 7th, 2014 at 8:11 pm
We lost one of the Legends of the game today.
Mr. William G. Nunn, Jr. (September 30, 1925 – May 7th, 2014)
“Nunn, who became a full-time scout for the Steelers in 1969, is credited with opening and nurturing a pipeline to historically black colleges in the South, one that yielded the likes of cornerback Mel Blount, wide receiver John Stallworth, defensive end L.C. Greenwood and safety Donnie Shell, among others.”
Steelers chairman Dan Rooney said in a statement. “Bill had extraordinary talents in identifying talent throughout his career.
Thank you, for your contributions to the game Sir.
May 7th, 2014 at 8:21 pm
“You cannot write the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers without Bill Nunn,” said Mr. Blount, a cornerback who played 14 seasons for the Steelers and is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “When you look at the Steelers of the 1970s, none of that would have happened without Bill Nunn.”
May 7th, 2014 at 8:30 pm
The report is cities that applied, not cities the NFL is currently considering. Just because the city of Orlando applied, doesn’t mean that the NFL is seriously considering.
There are plenty of reasons to berate the NFL right now, but this criticizing the NFL for a city applying to host the draft would be like criticizing Rachel Watson for being constantly mentioned in Joe’s posts.
May 7th, 2014 at 9:16 pm
Native Orlandoan here. Been in Tampa 7 years now. Traffic is WAY worse. Get a clue Joe.
May 7th, 2014 at 10:39 pm
I know Joe isnt ripping on Orlando’s traffic.. Tampa traffic is 10x worse than Orlando’s.
And if the NFL wants it at a convention center, Orlando is an easy choice. Depending on the article you read, the Orange County CC is ranked between 1-3 nationally. Tons of high end hotels within walking distance on I-Drive.
For this type of event, Orlando blows Tampa out of the water.
May 7th, 2014 at 10:46 pm
The reason is available hotel accommodations.
May 7th, 2014 at 10:50 pm
Bortles!
May 8th, 2014 at 1:24 am
ryan Says
“I know Joe isnt ripping on Orlando’s traffic.. Tampa traffic is 10x worse than Orlando’s.”
Are you out of your mind??? International Drive is bumper to bumper all day Thursday thru Sunday!
The Orlando Convention Center is a pretty nice location though.
I don’t have a problem with it. Orlando is three hours away. I might actually get to go to a draft.
May 8th, 2014 at 2:56 am
My vote goes to Joplin Mo. We have a nice park here where the NFL can put up some seats or just use the bleachers next to the baseball field. There is a McDs and a Taco Smell right next to the park for refreshments.
After the draft there is a bar across the street with toothless crackwhores galore for all to enjoy.
If the NFL reads this please consider.
May 8th, 2014 at 7:07 am
They should go back to the way it used to be held in April and start on Saturday at 12 noon and finish on Sunday.
May 8th, 2014 at 10:18 am
LOL…I sense much bitterness in this thread.
You guys are hilarious, if you can’t see why Orlando.
Face it, kids…Tampa has been bypassed in the media presence world, like a roadside mom and pop motel in Lutz.