Vikings Owner Confident Minneapolis Can Land 2028 NFL Draft

Vikings owner Mark Wilf is confident that Minneapolis can land the 2028 NFL Draft, which would mark the first time the event has ever been held in the state.

Last week, Minnesota officials announced they had submitted a bid to host the 2028 draft in downtown Minneapolis. The Vikings' U.S. Bank Stadium would be a "foundational piece" of the bid, with the Mall of America and the Vikings' headquarters in Eagan also being utilized for the three-day event.

"Minnesota and the business community, and the entire community really, comes out and supports the big events," Wilf said Tuesday in an interview with Paul Allen on KFAN. "We're working with league officials to try to figure out the venue and we're working hard to try to win the bid for the 2028 draft. Coming up, later in April, it's going to be in Pittsburgh, and Washington next year. So, we're shooting for Minnesota. We think we've got a great chance."

In order to raise money to host the event, the bid is being funded mainly through corporate money. Wilf indicated that the CEOs from U.S. Bank, EcoLab, and Medtronic, as well as the Wilfs, are chairing the committee bidding to land the draft. In preparing to host the 2025 draft, Green Bay required a $7.5 million budget for infrastructure and promotion. That was largely raised through private donations and the Packers organization, with $2 million coming from public funding.

No details have been given about the budget the Minneapolis bid would require.

Since the NFL stopped hosting the event at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, it has become even more of a spectacle event on the league's annual calendar, with thousands showing up to the rotating host city. More than 600,000 people reportedly attended last year's draft in Green Bay. It's expected that large crowds will once again show up for the three-day event in Pittsburgh this April and next year at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Notably, since taking the draft on the road, every single NFC North team except for the Vikings has now hosted the event. Chicago hosted it in back-to-back years in 2015 and 2016, Detroit hosted in 2024, and Green Bay did so in 2025.

Since its construction, U.S. Bank Stadium has hosted numerous national events, including the Super Bowl in 2018, the Final Four in 2019, the X Games from 2017 to 2019, and WWE's two-day SummerSlam later this summer.

"We're very supportive of making sure the bid is as top notch as it can be, and hopefully bring another great event to Minnesota," added Wilf.