NFL plans 'large, live, in-person' draft in Cleveland

The NFL draft will mostly return to its standard, pre-pandemic form for the 2021 event set to be held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, NFL executive vice president of club business and league events Peter O'Reilly told Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal.

Commissioner Roger Goodell will announce picks from a draft stage and fans will be able to attend the event, though mask-wearing, social distancing, and capacity limits will be enforced.

"We have been characterizing it as a large, live, in-person event," said Greater Cleveland Sports Commission CEO David Gilbert.

While the draft's legal capacity limit remains one of the major unknowns, Gilbert says the event will be the city's largest in many years, and "certainly since the (2016) Republican Convention."

Teams will still make picks exclusively from their local draft rooms.

While attendance at the draft stage just off Lake Erie will be limited to invited guests who have been vaccinated, those in the general public who haven't received their COVID-19 vaccination yet will be allowed into the "Draft Experience" at FirstEnergy Stadium, and other draft-related events like the red carpet at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The NFL will reportedly use the draft to push a pro-vaccine message.

"This draft in particular feels like it represents hope beyond that, because we hope to role model and showcase a bit of what a brighter future continues to look like, in terms of being able to do live, in-person events safely,” said Reilly.

He expects the number of invited prospects will be "not too far off from what it's been in recent years," with players given their own socially distanced space for about 10 close family members or friends. In 2018, 22 players attended the draft, while 23 did so the following year.

The NFL hopes to keep some elements of the remote draft from last year, with cameras in teams' draft rooms and video kits sent to prospects who aren't in attendance.