NEW YORK -- The NFL awarded the 2018 NFL Draft to the Dallas Cowboys, and owner Jerry Jones, during the league's fall meeting Wednesday, but not before the Eagles made a 'strong bid' to keep the draft in Philadelphia for one more year.
Jones, and the NFL, will stage the draft at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, after there had been previous speculation that the Cowboys' practice facility The Star in Frisco, Texas would be a host site.
According to a league spokesperson, Jones didn't land the draft without a fight from the Eagles and owner Jeffrey Lurie.
"In the end there was a strong bid from Philadelphia to have a second year," NFL executive vice president of communications Joe Lockhart said Wednesday at the Conrad Hotel, following the conclusion of Tuesday's meeting. "When we did Chicago, we did two years, so, Philadelphia made a strong push based on Chicago's second-year being better than the first year."
The league estimates that over 100,000 fans attended the 2017 NFL Draft at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway last April, which was very nearly enough for the event to return in 2018.
However, the interest and economic impact felt by Chicago and Philadelphia has piqued the interest of teams and cities across the NFL.
"We were strongly influenced by the fact that we now have 20 teams that are bidding [to host the draft]." Lockhart said. "If you think about it this way, if we wanted to spread it around and did two years a pop, that would take 40 years.
"I think we're really looking at moving it around strategically, but doing it one year at a time, as opposed to two."
Prior to Chicago hosting the NFL Draft in Chicago in 2015, the event had been held in New York for many decades.
Following the success in Philadelphia and Chicago, the NFL now aims to use the draft as a showcase event that rivals only the Super Bowl in terms of size, scope and exposure.
"If you look over the last five years at just standing up an event, changing it 10-times better every year," Lockhart said. "The NFL Draft is that. The fact that we've moved it around, and can create some competition as far as being able to 'do this and do that', it has become not quite on the magnitude of the Super Bowl, but it was noted in that room that the economic value to a community of the draft in Philadelphia was almost $100 million. Super Bowls generate around $400 million.
"You're starting to look at something that is taking on a life of its own as an event, with plenty of benefits to moving it around. Philadelphia and Dallas were very strong bids, but we were heavily influenced by the fact that so many teams wanted to do it that moving it around one year at a time, makes more sense. For now."
Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoPHL.