Before we get too deep, let’s be clear. The NFL Draft here in Green Bay was an operational success. Our standing as the smallest market in the league didn’t stop us from conducting a fun and safe event.

And I lead with this because as local leaders popped an economic impact number of about $80 million to the region, complimenting attendance numbers in exceeding expectations, most local business owners I spoke to didn’t notice a big jump in revenue.

The numbers back this up with 70 percent of spending taking place near Lambeau Field and Titletown (you can read the full report HERE). But as far as Brown County goes, that number drops significantly.

This means a lot of visitors drove in. Spent their money in the draft campus. And drove out.

And when they didn’t drive, they didn’t even fly into our airport. Milwaukee was the number one airport for the draft. Most of you already know that the ticket price savings for the larger airport is worth stomaching what is a pretty pleasant drive in once you get out of the MKE metro.

While the draft experience was a success, Green Bay small business didn’t really have the opportunity to make a lot of money.

But this wasn’t because of a lack of trying from event organizers. You and I saw it. There was a huge party downtown the night before the draft started. And there were also satellite events during the weekend, even though the rain certainly didn’t help us out that Friday.

In the end, you take it for what it was. A fun weekend that made our community look good on a global scale. We didn’t make a lot of coin but when an opportunity like this arises again (and it will) we’ll make sure to steer the money towards other parts of town.