Editing NFL draft (section)

===Festivities and attendance===
The draft was first televised in 1980 by [[ESPN]]. It would subsequently develop into a major U.S. television event.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schalter |first1=Ty |title=History of the NFL Draft: How Has the Process Evolved over Time? |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1077925-history-of-the-nfl-draft-how-has-the-process-evolved-over-time |website=Bleacher Report |access-date=30 April 2023 |language=en |date=February 24, 2012}}</ref> Despite attaining a sizable television audience, through the 2014 edition its in-person attendance remained limited. Between 1965 and 2014, the draft was held entirely in venues within New York City.<ref name="overLA">{{cite web |last1=Farmer |first1=Sam |title=Chicago gets the nod over L.A. to host 2015 NFL draft – Chicago Tribune |agency=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/la-sp-nfl-draft-2015-chicago-20141002-story.html |website=Chicago Tribune |access-date=30 April 2023 |date=October 2, 2014}}</ref> However, the NFL grew frustrated with its longtime host venue, [[Radio City Music Hall]], when the 2014 draft needed to be scheduled later than planned in the year due to a scheduling conflict at the venue; this prompted the league to open bidding for a new site to host its 2015 draft. NFL Commissioner [[Roger Goodell]] selected the city of [[Chicago]] over [[Los Angeles]].<ref name="overLA"/><ref>{{cite web |title=NFL Chooses Chicago Over Los Angeles For 2015 Draft |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/nfl-spurns-los-angeles-slates-2015-draft-in-chicago/ |website=CBS News |access-date=30 April 2023 |date=October 2, 2014}}</ref> To host the 2015 event, Chicago reimagined the draft into a much larger event than it previously had been, making the event accessible to large public attendance. While the first three rounds of the draft itself still took place inside an indoor venue (the [[Auditorium Theatre]]), across the street from the theater in [[Grant Park (Chicago)|Grant Park]] Chicago erected a large free-admission multi-day fan festival dubbed "Draft Town" that drew 200,000 visitors. Within the grounds of the festival, fans could watch live footage of the first three rounds draft from within the festival, and the final round of the draft was held in an area of the festival dubbed "Selection Square".<ref name="BizBash">{{cite web |last1=Berg |first1=Jenny |title=How Lollapalooza Inspired the 2015 N.F.L. Draft |url=https://www.bizbash.com/venues-destinations/united-states/chicago/media-gallery/13481005/how-lollapalooza-inspired-the-2015-nfl-draft |website=BizBash |access-date=30 April 2023 |date=May 15, 2015}}</ref> The NFL has retained the large-scale attendance and festivities pioneered when Chicago hosted.<ref name="belson1">{{cite web |last1=Belson |first1=Ken |title=For Detroit, the N.F.L. Draft Is Like a Super Bowl |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/business/nfl-draft-detroit.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=11 June 2024 |date=25 April 2024}}</ref> The [[2024 NFL draft|2024 draft]] in [[Detroit]] set the all-time attendance record with more than 775,000.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Altavena |first=Eric D. Lawrence, Paul Egan, Clara Hendrickson, Darcie Moran, Dana Afana, Eric Guzmán and Lily |title=Final day of NFL draft was a victory lap for fans, families and Detroit |url=https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/2024/04/27/detroit-nfl-draft-weekend-breaking-attendance-record/73482236007/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=Detroit Free Press |language=en-US}}</ref>