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Who’s paying for the NFL Draft? The league ‘isn’t getting a free ride,’ convention center says

Posted at 1:53 PM, Apr 11, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-17 11:36:37-04

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — There’s been a lot of questions surrounding the NFL Draft in Nashville – one of which being, who’s paying for it?

Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp (CVC), says the NFL is paying for most of it.

“It's been a very fluid partnership. But what I can tell you is it's probably a $20 million production overall and the lion's share of that, a significant lion's share is NFL. So, the city did not roll over, the NFL's not getting a free ride,” Spyridon said.

When it comes to paying Metro police officers and Nashville firefighters for overtime during the event, Spyridon says the CVC is making a donation to Metro government to help cover the cost.

“I don't think we can cover it all, but we're making a donation for police and fire and OEM,” he said. “We’re looking at $200,000 for police and a $100,000 for fire.”

Watch the full interview above.

More coverage:
NFL Draft: What you need to know as a fan attending the draft in Nashville