Trump Announces 2027 NFL Draft Will Be Held on D.C. Mall

President Donald Trump, flanked by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), announced Monday that the National Mall will be the site of the 2027 NFL Draft.

Trump made the announcement — which confirmed reports on Sunday that the draft would be in the nation’s capital — in the Oval Office with Washington Commanders Owner Josh Harris also present.

“I’m pleased to reveal that the 2027 NFL Draft–that’s a big thing–will be held right here in our nation’s capital, Washington, DC, on the National Mall,” Trump said.

“It’s going to be beautiful….nobody else will ever be able to duplicate that, I don’t suspect. It’s very exciting,” he added.

The president underscored that the three-day-long event will draw jobs and tourism to D.C.

Goodell expressed his gratitude to Trump for making the announcement and estimated that over a million people would descend on the mall to watch the draft in person after a strong showing for the 2025 draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in late April.

“Just a week ago in Green Bay, we had over 600,000 people attend. The year before, in Detroit, we had close to 800,000. As the president remarked, we believe well over a million when we come here to DC in 2027,” he said.

“So we not only believe it’s a great site, we believe it’s consistent with what the president said, which is investing in our communities, investing specifically here in the nation’s capital,” he added.

The announcement comes a week after the Washington Commanders and the District of Columbia came to terms on a deal for the football team to return to the site of RFK Stadium in Northeast D.C., where a new stadium will be constructed.

“I don’t think there is a better site anywhere in the world than that site,” Trump said Monday of the forthcoming stadium.