MADISON – Gov. Tony Evers is awarding nearly $2 million to the City of Green Bay to cover costs associated with the 2025 NFL draft in April.
The governor’s June 18 announcement comes a week after the Joint Committee on Finance cut state reimbursement for public safety costs to Green Bay, Ashwaubenon and Brown County from the 2025 state budget.
Evers said it is “critically important” that Green Bay and local partners receive monetary support to cover public safety costs for the draft. Approximately 600,000 attendees flocked to Green Bay for the three-day event.
“Pulling off a national event like this requires a lot of work, coordination and partnership,” Evers said in a press release. “I’m incredibly proud of those efforts and that we’re going to be providing these investments to support our local partners and the tremendous work that ensured the Draft went off without a hitch.”
In Evers’ 2023-25 biennial budget, Evers proposed creating and funding a $30 million opportunity attraction fund to support Wisconsin in recruiting and hosting large-scale events like the NFL draft.
The final budget enacted by Evers created the Opportunity Attraction and Promotion Fund with a $10 million investment to be administered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to help boost the statewide economy.
Initial estimates projected the 2025 NFL Draft would generate $94 million in economic benefit in Wisconsin, including a $20 million benefit for the Green Bay area specifically.
The governor’s 2025-27 budget proposal included an additional $5 million to continue the fund in fiscal year 2025-26.
Anna Kleiber can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Evers to reimburse public safety costs incurred from NFL Draft
