NFL Draft future locations for 2025, 2026 and beyond

Once upon a time, there wasn't much excitement about where the NFL Draft was being held. From 1964-2014, the draft was held in New York City, most often at the famed Radio City Music Hall. In 2015 and 2016, the NFL Draft location was then moved to Chicago, IL. But since then in the years after, the draft has been held at various host cities connected to NFL teams.

That began with the 2017 NFL Draft which was held in Philadelphia, PA at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In the coming years, the draft has gone to Arlington, TX; Nashville, TN; Cleveland, OH; Las Vegas, NV; and Kansas City, MO. The 2020 draft during the COVID-19 pandemic was held virtually, most notably with Roger Goodell seemingly hosting from his mancave at his home.

This new movement from the league, though, has put some real emphasis on NFL Draft locations, so let's take a look at where the draft will be held moving forward, or where it could be held in the future.

Where is the 2024 NFL Draft location?

The 2024 NFL Draft is being held in Detroit, Michigan, the first time that the draft has been hosted by the Motor City. Instead of the event being held at the home of the Lions, however, we will instead see the stage and the selections being made at Campus Meritus Park in downtown Detroit, which should allow for more fans to attend the proceedings on Thursday through Saturday for all 256 picks.

Future NFL Draft location for 2025, 2026

The 2025 NFL Draft will be located in Green Bay, WI and will be hosted at historic Lambeau Field and it has now been announced that the 2026 NFL Draft will be in Pittsburgh, PA.

There have been some concerns about the city of Green Bay's infrastructure being able to host the large crowds of fans that show up for the draft every year, the league deciding to go to one of the most legendary NFL venues for the draft -- and back-to-back NFC North towns, it should be noted -- should make for an unforgettable draft experience. There are no such concerns for Pittsburgh at the moment.

Predicting future NFL Draft locations for 2027, 2028 and 2029

We don't have much info about what the outlook for 2027 and beyond will look like but, looking geographically at where the draft has been or will be, we can make some educated guesses about possible NFL Draft locations moving forward.

We saw the league head to Las Vegas in 2022 for the draft, so going to another lively and party-friendly city like New Orleans feels like a logical step that the NFL could take for the 2027 NFL Draft. The year after, things could be turning over a new leaf with the Washington Commanders, and a draft being held in the nation's capital could be quite a fun spectacle.