{"id":2281,"date":"2016-03-17T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/?p=2281"},"modified":"2019-10-08T13:36:01","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T18:36:01","slug":"nfl-draft-town-2016-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Draft Town 2016 Details"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>NFL Draft Town 2016<\/h2>\n<p>For the first time in over 50 years, Chicago hosted the 2015 draft last spring. The draft was accompanied by an all-new concept, NFL Draft Town, a completely free fan festival. Draft Town encompassed Grant Park with huge attractions, games, flag football, and general fanfare. It also allowed fans to watch the draft live on a large screen.<\/p>\n<p>An estimated 200,000+ visitors attended last year\u2019s festival, bringing in nearly $44 million in revenue between hotels, sales tax, dining, and temporary jobs.<\/p>\n<p>This year, NFL Draft Town is back, and it\u2019s getting a major upgrade. We were all impressed by last year\u2019s 768,000-square-foot stretch, but this year we\u2019ll be getting 960,000 square feet of football greatness.<\/p>\n<p>With the expansion comes new scenery. While last year\u2019s festival was closer to Michigan Ave, this year will take to the lakefront with TV sets and the draft\u2019s \u201cSelection Square\u201d where picks are announced encircling Buckingham Fountain.<\/p>\n<h6><strong>Hours of Operation:<\/strong><\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Thursday, April 28:\u00a0<\/strong>12PM &#8211; 10PM<\/li>\n<li><strong>Friday, April 29:\u00a0<\/strong>12PM &#8211; 10PM<\/li>\n<li><strong>Saturday, April 30:\u00a0<\/strong>10AM &#8211; 6PM<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6><strong>Here\u2019s a breakdown of NFL Draft Town 2016\u2019s activities:<\/strong><\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/nfl-draft-town-is-getting-a-ferris-wheel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>A 120-foot monster Ferris wheel<\/strong><\/a> will be housed right on the Grant Park lawn (near Van Buren Street). Not only will this be a welcomed attraction for the kiddos, it will provide killer views of the skyline and the draft as it\u2019s happening.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A Super Bowl Museum\u00a0<\/strong>featuring Bears memorabilia, the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Super Bowl rings and the AFC and NFC Conference Championship Trophies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Draft Tavern\u00a0<\/strong>Presented by Bud Light \u2013 \u201cThe hottest place to drink the coldest beer.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Grant Park\u2019s\u00a0<strong>Buckingham Fountain\u00a0<\/strong>will be lit up reflecting team colors during the Draft\u2019s first two nights.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A Sweetness Simulator\u00a0<\/strong>offers fans an opportunity to soar just like Chicago Bears legendary running back Walter Payton, (Sweetness) in a wind tunnel skydive simulator.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Run Like the Wind\u00a0<\/strong>tests fans running speed alongside a 40-yard long LED screen featuring NFL stars running the 40-yard dash.<\/li>\n<li><strong>AFC &amp; NFC Row\/Team Houses\u00a0<\/strong>is a mini-village featuring all 32 NFL clubs\u2019 \u201cTeam Houses\u201d filled with unique club content and memorabilia.<\/li>\n<li><strong>NFL PLAY 60 Zone\u00a0<\/strong>offers an interactive area for kids and families that includes an obstacle course, mobile app gaming, green screen photo opportunity, the NFL PLAY 60 Bus and more.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Draft Town Autograph Stage\u00a0<\/strong>featuring free autographs from NFL Legends and current NFL players.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chi-Chefs Kitchen\u00a0<\/strong>will feature selections from some of Chicago\u2019s best restaurants including Billy Goat Tavern &amp; Grill, Black Dog Gelato, County Barbecue, Dia De Los Tamales, FEAST, Wow Bao and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a0Kena Krutsinger\/Getty Images via\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/gettyimages.com\/nfl-draft-20150501-035528-225.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NFL Draft Town 2016 For the first time in over 50 years, Chicago hosted the 2015 draft last spring. The draft was accompanied by an all-new concept, NFL&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2279,"featured_media":2282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,755],"tags":[830,274,121,44,829,831,168],"class_list":["post-2281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-category-popular","category-category-things-to-do","tag-2016-nfl-draft","tag-draft-town","tag-grant-park","tag-nfl-draft","tag-nfl-draft-2016","tag-nfl-draft-news","tag-nfl-draft-town"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.4 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NFL Draft Town 2016 Details | UrbanMatter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NFL Draft Town 2016 will be heading back to Chicago for a repeat performance. Get all the details as they&#039;re released here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NFL Draft Town 2016 Details\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NFL Draft Town 2016 will be heading back to Chicago for a repeat performance. Get all the details as they&#039;re released here.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UrbanMatter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/Pluggchicago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-17T13:00:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-08T18:36:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NFL-Draft.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"779\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UMatterChicago\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UMatterChicago\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/691b7b63a0a986717e29c945c127c4ee\"},\"headline\":\"NFL Draft Town 2016 Details\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-17T13:00:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-08T18:36:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/\"},\"wordCount\":443,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NFL-Draft.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2016 nfl draft\",\"draft town\",\"grant park\",\"nfl draft\",\"nfl draft 2016\",\"nfl draft news\",\"nfl draft town\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Popular\",\"Things To Do\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/\",\"name\":\"NFL Draft Town 2016 Details | UrbanMatter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NFL-Draft.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-17T13:00:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-08T18:36:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"NFL Draft Town 2016 will be heading back to Chicago for a repeat performance. Get all the details as they're released here.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NFL-Draft.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NFL-Draft.jpg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":779,\"caption\":\"NFL Draft Town 2016\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Popular\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/category-popular\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"NFL Draft Town 2016 Details\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"UrbanMatter\",\"description\":\"For What Really Matters\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UrbanMatter Chicago\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/UM_Logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/UM_Logo-1.png\",\"width\":371,\"height\":99,\"caption\":\"UrbanMatter Chicago\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/Pluggchicago\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/UMatterChicago\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/691b7b63a0a986717e29c945c127c4ee\",\"name\":\"David\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9409ae62de2b111dfb71d96c9d1765d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9409ae62de2b111dfb71d96c9d1765d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/author\/fjugin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NFL Draft Town 2016 Details | UrbanMatter","description":"NFL Draft Town 2016 will be heading back to Chicago for a repeat performance. Get all the details as they're released here.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NFL Draft Town 2016 Details","og_description":"NFL Draft Town 2016 will be heading back to Chicago for a repeat performance. Get all the details as they're released here.","og_url":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/","og_site_name":"UrbanMatter","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/Pluggchicago\/","article_published_time":"2016-03-17T13:00:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-10-08T18:36:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":779,"url":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NFL-Draft.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"David","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UMatterChicago","twitter_site":"@UMatterChicago","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/"},"author":{"name":"David","@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/691b7b63a0a986717e29c945c127c4ee"},"headline":"NFL Draft Town 2016 Details","datePublished":"2016-03-17T13:00:04+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-08T18:36:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/"},"wordCount":443,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NFL-Draft.jpg","keywords":["2016 nfl draft","draft town","grant park","nfl draft","nfl draft 2016","nfl draft news","nfl draft town"],"articleSection":["Popular","Things To Do"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/","url":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/","name":"NFL Draft Town 2016 Details | UrbanMatter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NFL-Draft.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-17T13:00:04+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-08T18:36:01+00:00","description":"NFL Draft Town 2016 will be heading back to Chicago for a repeat performance. Get all the details as they're released here.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NFL-Draft.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NFL-Draft.jpg","width":1170,"height":779,"caption":"NFL Draft Town 2016"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/nfl-draft-town-2016-details\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Popular","item":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/category-popular\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"NFL Draft Town 2016 Details"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/","name":"UrbanMatter","description":"For What Really Matters","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#organization","name":"UrbanMatter Chicago","url":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/UM_Logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/UM_Logo-1.png","width":371,"height":99,"caption":"UrbanMatter Chicago"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/facebook.com\/Pluggchicago\/","https:\/\/x.com\/UMatterChicago"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/691b7b63a0a986717e29c945c127c4ee","name":"David","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9409ae62de2b111dfb71d96c9d1765d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9409ae62de2b111dfb71d96c9d1765d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David"},"url":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/author\/fjugin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}