Six suggestions for the staging of the 2025 NFL draft in Green Bay

Yes, we still have to figure out how to stuff hundreds of thousands of people into Green Bay, Wisconsin, for the NFL draft in 2025. But we can still consider some fun minor details first.

Green Bay hosting the annual mega-event will prove to be a major spotlight opportunity for the city, just as it was for Kansas City in April, Las Vegas in 2022, Cleveland in 2021, Nashville in 2019, Dallas in 2018, Philadelphia in 2017 and Chicago in 2015 and 2016.

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Each experience had a unique vibe; this year's employed Union Station in Kansas City, last year employed a playing card theme while holding the event at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip, and Nashville offered musical-themed décor for its event right in the heart of the city.

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There will surely be some Wisconsin-centric flourishes for the 2025 showcase. Yes, probably something something beer and cheese, but let's get beyond that. Here are our suggestions for the 2025 draft:

Draft picks heading down the tubing hill

It's probably unwise to endanger the "green room" draft prospects on hand with a trip down the tubing hill in the Titletown district after they hear their name called, but wouldn't it be awesome? It'd be akin to an initial idea for the Las Vegas draft where players boarded a boat and traversed the Bellagio fountains (before that draft became a virtual event on account of COVID-19).

The Titletown District is a big reason the city can host the draft, after all.

Biking across Oneida

One of the more endearing traditions in Packers fandom involves kids' bicycles. Players on hand for training camp, making the trek across Oneida Avenue between the Don Hutson Center and Lambeau Field, grab a bike offered by one of the many kids on hand hoping for selection and ride it for the length of the short journey. Again, it might not quite be fit for those in suits and bling, and we'd probably just need adult bikes. Too niche?

The Lambeau Leap

This tradition, on the other hand, is exclusively connected to the Packers franchise and therefore might not quite fit the bill for an "NFL" event. But how great would it be if a separate staging area featured a number of fans (perhaps rotated out to align with each fan base) set up behind a padded wall that drafted players could leap into following their descent from the stage?

Picket fence graphics

Another Green Bay tradition: The Packers fence painter. Chris Handler started the tradition (though he hung up his brushes in 2017), designing a series of timely Packers-centric designs outside his house on Lombardi Avenue across from the stadium. The fence endures today and surely has an NFL draft idea in the works. But what if the NFL jumped on the concept and created a visual graphic aligning with each of the green room athletes, unveiled at their selection? Or, more ambitiously, commission a bigger art project that paints 10 to 15 fences around the area featuring one of the top prospects?

Simone Biles

We don't even have a specific suggestion but Simone Biles should be involved. Presumably, this is contingent on her husband, Jonathan Owens, still being on the Packers for the 2025 season, but does it really need to be?

While we're piling in celebrities, can we just stage a massive concert that features Packers fans Harry Styles, Lil Wayne, Justin Timberlake and Joan Jett? And Bon Iver!

More: After Packers signed her husband, safety Jonathan Owens, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles asked for Green Bay must-do's. Locals wasted no time.

A city-wide tailgate

Anyone who's attended a Packers game understands the scene; there are those heading to the game itself and those who are just hanging out in the neighborhoods around the stadium. Aaron Nagler puts it perfectly on Twitter: "I just love that there will be the 'official' NFL draft in Green Bay in Lambeau and the Titletown district...and then there will undoubtedly be the Lot 1 version of the draft, where folks just roll up on lawns with their RVs and tailgate all week. God I can't wait."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Six Wisconsin touches that would be perfect for the 2025 NFL draft