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One of professional sports’ biggest spectacles is heading to Minnesota in two years.

The National Football League announced Tuesday that the 2028 NFL Draft will be held at U.S. Bank Stadium, with associated fan events taking place over several days around the Twin Cities and beyond.

“For three days, Minnesota will become the center of the football world,” Mark Wilf, owner and president of the Minnesota Vikings, said in a news release. “The 2028 NFL Draft will give us an opportunity to showcase not just U.S. Bank Stadium, but the energy, hospitality and pride that define Minneapolis-St. Paul and the entire state and region. We have no doubt the community will deliver a world-class event that is unique to Minnesota.”

The Vikings will host the draft in partnership with the NFL and Minnesota Sports and Events.

The draft used to be held in New York each year — but since 2015, it has rotated to different host cities, and the event has grown. This year’s draft, held in Pittsburgh in April, drew more than 800,000 fans.

At Tuesday’s announcement at the NFL Spring League Meeting in Orlando, Fla., Wendy Williams Blackshaw — the president and CEO of Minnesota Sports and Events — was asked whether the Twin Cities can match that.

“Around the stadium, there is room, depending on the stage layout, for somewhere in the 100,000 (range) — and then again, layer on top of that the watch parties, all of the other things that are happening in the community, and we feel really confident that we will have a huge crowd,” she said. “We’re competitive.”

The 2028 NFL Draft will take place a decade after Minneapolis hosted the Super Bowl. Exact dates are yet to be announced.

The 2027 draft will be held in Washington, D.C.

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The National Football League announced Tuesday that the 2028 NFL Draft will be held at U.S. Bank Stadium, with associated fan events taking place over several days around the Twin Cities and beyond.


Minnesota Vikings fans cheer during the NFL Draft

Minnesota will host 2028 NFL Draft

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