NFL Draft Attendance Numbers Revealed for Nashville After First Night, and They Are ‘Insane’

The NFL is switching things up this year by celebrating the NFL Draft in a new city and outside of an arena.

Nashville, Tennessee is this year’s host and not only has it become the number one spot for bachelorette parties, but it’s the new “it” city — so why not host one of the league’s most celebrated events in Music City?

This year has broken records already. The Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. estimated 200,000 people jammed in the streets of Broadway to celebrate the event on its first night alone! That’s a Draft record for attendance.

The city may be growing by the day but hosting the Draft is the city’s largest single event the area has ever hosted before. According to WTVF, a whopping $20 million was spent — mostly by the NFL — to transform the city to “Draftville.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter couldn’t have said it any better.

Gov. Bill Haslam told the news outlet, “I think it’s just a reminder to folks that what we’ve got going on in Nashville is real…There’s a reason why people are moving here in big numbers. It makes me proud to be a Tennessean in a new way. It’s also a tremendous economic impact — in a big way.”

Nashville truly is the “it” city right now. According to the Nashville Post, an average of 100 people move to Music City per day, and for events like the NFL Draft, the city houses roughly 350,000 people in one weekend alone. Not just that, but parts of Hollywood are moving out that way as well and it currently plays host to the most bachelorette parties than any other city at the moment — there are more memes about bachelorette weekends in Nashvegas than ever before.

Speaking of bachelorette parties, there are some pretty upset soon-to-be brides out there right now and the Draft is to blame. Turns out, knowing a thing or two about sports may help in times like this when hundreds of ladies traveled from all over the states in hopes of gaining a taste of the Honky Tonk life, only to discover the entire city is draped in football.

One bride and her bridesmaid told Fox 17 in Nashville, “We come here to listen to country music, not hang out with football boys,” the bride said.

“I’ll tell you who’s going to pay for this, my husband,” her bridesmaid added. “No football next season. No Super Bowl. Because my friend only gets married once, draft happens every year.”

The NFL Draft will continue through the end of Saturday, so get in on the fun while you can!