Maybe you live and breathe fantasy football. You might listen to all the Fantasy Football podcasts and keep up with everything going on in the NFL year-round. If that sounds like you and you haven’t hosted a destination draft party, it might be time to consider it.
Nashville can also make the perfect location for a Fantasy Football draft party since it’s often named one of America’s top party cities.
Why a Destination Draft?
Destination drafts can be more complex to plan and more expensive, but most of the time, people will tell you they’re well worth it.
Some leagues have made it so that traveling for the draft is a requirement.
When you do a destination draft, especially to somewhere like Nashville, you can come together and share an Airbnb or rental and make it affordable for everyone since you’ll be splitting it 10 or 12 ways.
Destination drafts are a good way to spend time with friends you might not normally see that much, and they can bring a sense of excitement to the entire event.
If you’re looking for a way to bring your draft to the next level, it’s tough to beat going out of town, especially somewhere like Nashville.
Nashville’s a Great Sports Town
Nashville was home to the actual NFL draft in 2019, and it was a huge success, indicating just what a sports and football town Music City is.
The event in 2019 lasted for three days and included 600,000 fans. The event set records for visitor spending, topping $132.8 million. There were also 47.5 million people watching on TV, which was the most-watched NFL draft in history until 2020.
Nashville is hoping to hold the event again in the not-too-distant future.
Butch Spyridon, the CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, told AllTitans the city had submitted an official expression of interest to host the draft in 2024 and 2025.
Roger Goodell talked after the 2019 draft about how it was a moment that was perfect for celebrating the 100th season of the NFL. He described Nashville as an energetic host that served as a “breathtaking backdrop” to the hundreds of thousands of fans who lined the streets at the time. Goodell went on to thank the players and their families, the Tennessee Titans, and the City of Nashville.
When Nashville held the event, it nearly doubled the turnout from the previous year, which was held in Dallas.
The imagery was described frequently thanks to the rooftop bars and the neon lights of Broadway that Nashville is known for.
For the 2026 World Cup, Nashville is also one of the 17 cities in the U.S. that’s a finalist to host games.
If Nashville were to win that event, it would be at Nissan Stadium.
Planning Your Nashville Draft Part
If you’d like to hold your own draft in Nashville, there are some things to know about planning a trip to the city.
First, Nashville is a scenic city. It’s set on a riverbank, and it really is a beautiful place to be.
You might want to make time in your destination Fantasy draft party for all the landmarks the city is known for. For example, a big one is the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the nearby Music City Walk of Fame. That landmark serves as a tribute to some of the biggest contributors to the music industry as a whole.
Another landmark is The Parthenon at Centennial Park, which is interestingly a full-scale replica of the actual Parthenon in Greece.
If your league likes live music, there is absolutely no better place on the planet for your draft party than Nashville.
There are obvious venues like the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman, which are legendary.
There are also a lot of other places where you can hear live music, like The Station Inn, which is in the Gulch neighborhood and has been bringing a variety of genres of music to audiences for more than 40 years.
The Bluebird Café is another can’t-miss. It’s a listening room for songwriters to perform.
The Honky Tonk Highway is good if you want a party, but also the music of Nashville. The Honky Tonk highway is on Lower Broadway, and it’s where all the neon lights that made for such a great backdrop for the 2019 NFL Draft came from. The honky tonks are open day and night, so you can keep the party going as much as you want during your destination draft.
