‘Draft’ing Opportunities

Written By: Eric Page, Creative Services/ Promotions Manager, WBAY-TV

Once-in-a-lifetime. Epic. Legendary.

No matter what adjective you use to describe Green Bay hosting the 2025 NFL Draft next month, there is no doubt it is an opportunity to shine a very bright spotlight on the city of Green Bay and the entire state of Wisconsin.

Throughout our 71-year history serving Northeast Wisconsin, WBAY-TV has been there for every big moment, and this is no different. We are embracing the opportunity and the challenges that come along with showing the world exactly why the NFL chose Green Bay and Lambeau Field as the home of the 2025 Draft. We also look forward to being the broadcast home of the 2025 NFL Draft, as ABC will carry every round of the draft live.

Starting with the formal announcement from the NFL in May of 2023, WBAY made the commitment to utilize all our platforms to cover every aspect of the single biggest event this city has ever hosted. We want to make every story available to not only the people of Northeast Wisconsin but to people all over the world planning to make their way to Green Bay.

With one year to go, our news department began a weekly series called “Countdown 2 the Draft.” The series kicked off in April of 2024, when Emerson Lehmann followed a large contingent of Green Bay officials to Detroit for the 2024 NFL Draft. The Green Bay contingent was in Detroit to get an inside look at hosting this event.

We quickly realized that producing stories about the draft just once a week was not going to cut it. The series has evolved to focus on more in-depth stories about the special and amazing things being done to welcome the estimated 250,000 football fans to our area. At the same time, other draft-related news like logistics, security, additional flights, and road closures have become an almost daily part of our content.

And as the days continue to tick away, planning continues for extensive coverage the week of the draft. We will bring our viewers live reports every day from the draft campus. We will also produce half-hour “Countdown 2 the Draft” specials, airing Monday through Thursday from 6:30-7pm.

The Action 2 Sports team will produce their annual Cover 2: Draft Edition special, airing from 7-8pm on Wednesday, April 23. ABC’s live coverage kicks off Thursday, April 24 at 7pm with the first round. Rounds two and three will take place live on Friday. Rounds four through seven will air live on Saturday.

Once Sunday, April 27 gets here, we can all take a deep breath, looking back on our hard work and knowing we showed the world how great Wisconsin really is.