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Minnesota Vikings Submit Bid to Host NFL Draft Sooner Than Expected
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- Minnesota Vikings Submit Bid to Host NFL Draft Sooner Than Expected
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The 2026 NFL Draft nearly a month out still, meaning football fans worldwide have plenty of mock drafts and expert projections to sort through and salivate over, before the Minnesota Vikings go on the clock in Pittsburgh , on April 23.
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For now, the Vikings hold the No. 18 overall pick. However, you can't rule out a trade up or down the board anytime during the three-day annual event, including that first night.
Minnesota Vikings make bid to host 2028 NFL Draft
But while we wait for the 2026 NFL Draft to arrive and debate over what Minnesota will do with their four top-100 picks next month, Vikings beat writer Kevin Seifert (ESPN) is looking to the future.
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According to what the longtime league insider tweeted Wednesday morning, the Minnesota Vikings have officially submitted a proposal to host the 2028 NFL Draft at U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis.
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And since the NFL normally announces draft locations two years out, it won't take long before we find out if the Vikings will soon host their first ever rookie draft.
The Minnesota Sports and Events Commission has submitted a formal bid to host the 2028 NFL draft in Minneapolis, in a set-up that surrounds U.S. Bank Stadium, per MNSE president/CEO Wendy Blackshaw. NFL typically selects sites 2 years out, so an answer could come within months.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) March 25, 2026
MN Vikings have been trying to host NFL Draft
News that the MN Vikings are trying to host a draft is not surprising. The Wilfs have been trying to achieve the same feat pretty much since 2015, when the NFL Draft first left Radio City Music Hall in Nashville, which played annual host from 2006 through 2014.
However, Minnesota's three official bids in 2024, 2025 and for the upcoming draft in 2026, were all passed up for other locations. Back in May 2025, reports surfaced out of the Pioneer Press suggesting the Vikings were targeting 2029 as their most likely host year.
"The Vikings are focusing on getting the NFL draft for 2029 in Minneapolis. Minnesota Sports Events, intent on acquiring the roving draft, had its group in Green Bay for last week's event. The NFL will decide on the site of the 2029 draft in 2027."
It's very possible that this sudden change in thinking could mean the Wilfs have reason to believe, for whatever reason, that the 2028 draft is a more viable option than it was previously.
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NFL believes US Bank Stadium > TCO Performance Center
When the Vikings built TCO Performance Center, they sold it as a possible host location. However, the Wilfs have made it pretty clear since 2022 that the likely location would be U.S. Bank Stadium, as that's where the league would prefer it.
Nonetheless, their elaborate practice facility complex — which is located about 15 minutes south (with no traffic) of U.S. Bank Stadium — is still featured in the Minnesota Vikings' proposal. This time around, however, it's being floated as an ancillary location to host side-events, like kids flag football.
"In terms of the location of the draft, the red carpet and all the ancillary events that go with hosting the draft, all those things are under evaluation by the league right now, so it's to be determined, but what we can say is TCO Performance Center is a really viable option," Meunier said. "Flag football, youth football is going to continue to be more prominent as it relates to the NFL and leaning into 2028 and the L.A. [Olympic] Games, so there's potential to stage some youth football and community legacy events out at TCO Performance Center, but in addition to that, every event Minnesota Sports and Events hosts, we're really intentional about staging events throughout the region and not just downtown [Minneapolis]."
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