NFL sends team to Charlotte for future NFL Draft site scouting

The city of Charlotte, home of the Carolina Panthers, could be in contention to host its first NFL Draft after the league sent representatives to tour the area earlier this month.

NFL leaders heard from a pitch from leaders in the Charlotte community on May 4 and toured First Ward Park as a potential draft site, according to emails obtained by Channel 9 reporter Joe Bruno.

A spokesperson for the Charlotte Sports Foundation confirmed the visit but said it is too early to share specific information.

At NFL spring meetings this week in Minneapolis, the league leadership will announce where the 2025 NFL Draft will be. According to Front Office Sports, the front-runner to host in 2025 is Green Bay.

Only 12 cities have hosted the NFL draft since it was first established in 1936 but the league has been expanding their options over last decade. Those cities are Chicago (1938, 1942-1943, 1951, 1962-1964, 2015-2016), Cleveland (2021), Dallas (2018), Kansas City (2023), Las Vegas (2022), Los Angeles (1956), Milwaukee (1940), Nashville (2019), New York City (1937, 1939, 1944-1947, 1952, 1955, 1965-2014), Philadelphia (1936, 1944, 1949-1961, 2017), Pittsburgh (1948-1949) and Washington DC (1941).

Another new city gets to host in 2024 – Detroit. In 2020, due to the pandemic, the NFL held the draft virtually.

NFL owners to vote on Thursday night scheduling

Among the topics of discussion at this week’s league meetings is whether or not to allow expanded flexible scheduling for Thursday Night Football games.

League ownership previously failed to reach the necessary threshold for votes to pass the expanded flex scheduling. However, since the last vote in March, the NFL and Roger Goodell have made tweaks to their proposal.

In March, the vote failed with 22 owners voting yes, eight voting no, and two abstaining. To pass, the measure would need an additional two votes to bring the total in favor to 24 out of 32 NFL owners.

This week’s vote could do it for Thursday night flex scheduling, however, as the league addressed one of the owners’ biggest concerns.

Previously, teams would have been given a minimum of 15 days’ notice that their game could flex to Sunday night.

Several owners, including Giants’ John Mara, believed 15 days to be too little notice. Now, the resolution has a minimum of 28 days’ notice for teams who could have games moved.

Mara previously called the proposal “abusive,” in regard to fans who bought tickets and made arrangements to make it to a certain game at a certain time. However, owners in favor of the proposal advocate for the vast majority of fans who watch the games at home.

If the vote goes through this time, it means teams will have a maximum of two Thursday Night Football games potentially flexed in a single season. Also, the flexing can only occur in Weeks 13-17.