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NFL Makes Major Announcement on Round 1 Draft Attendance in Green Bay

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Dave Ettinger | Last updated Apr 25, 2025 2:03 AM ET

As the world anxiously awaited for the 2025 NFL Draft to kick off, many speculated what kind of turnout Green Bay would have. After taking place in the same location for 50 years, the draft has taken itself on the road since 2015.

This year's draft is being held in Green Bay, far and away the smallest NFL market. The Green Bay Packers have been a major fixture in the football world for over 100 years, uniquely being the only publicly-owned, non-profit organization in the NFL.

Despite their small television market (approximately 456,000 TV households), and unique ownership, the Packers were able to lobby to help Lambeau Field play host to the NFL Draft for the first time in franchise history.

The fans did not disappoint, showing up in monster numbers. At the conclusion of Thursday night's Round 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft, the NFL made a major announcement, revealing the official attendance at Lambeau Field.

Official attendance for tonight’s Round 1 of the #NFLDraft: 205,000 fans.pic.twitter.com/KcRvV4XeL2
— NFL (@NFL) April 25, 2025

"Official attendance for tonight’s Round 1 of the #NFLDraft: 205,000 fans," the NFL's official X account posted.

Round 1's attendance of 205,000 far exceeded expectations, as it had been predicted that 250,000 total fans would be in attendance for the entire three-day draft.

The record for attendance for Round 1 was set last year, in 2024, in Detroit when 275,000 fans showed out for day one. The 2024 NFL Draft would set the record for most total fans to attend the three-day event at just over 775,000.

The previous record of 600,000 was held by Nashville during the 2019 NFL Draft. This year's draft has a chance to finish second or even break the attendance record.

While the number of high-level prospects isn't at an all-time high this year, the fans in Green Bay were still treated to an action packed first round. Round 1 saw multiple trades, starting with the Jacksonville Jaguars trading up to the No. 2 overall pick to select two-way sensation, Travis Hunter.

The NFL world will await the announcement of Round 2's official attendance to see if the record is in danger. Round 2 kicks off on Friday at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN, ABC, and the NFL Network.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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