ASHAWAUBENON, Wis. — Kevin LaPointe is excited to talk about the adjacent properties he owns on True Lane in Ashwaubenon known as The Gate At Lambeau.
He’s crafted the homes to be unique destinations for football fans from around the country, regardless of what team they’re rooting for.
“You get to meet a lot of people. You get to forge good relationships and new friendships,” he said. “Is it worth it? Absolutely.”
When the dates for the 2025 NFL Draft were announced, it didn’t take long for two of his three rentals in Ashwaubenon to get booked.
“It happened overnight,” he said. “I had some of my regulars contact me and they rented the houses out. They have it for a week, and as you can see around the area here, people will be doing the same thing.”
The NFL started taking the draft on the road in 2015. The Packers and Green Bay area officials spent years bidding on the draft which will run April 24-26.
At a recent launch for the upcoming draft, Jeff Miller of the NFL talked about the growth of the draft since it left residency in New York City.
“In Nashville we were down on Broadway. In Philadelphia at the art museum with tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people eventually showing up,” Miller said. “With the draft growing every year as a great fan-facing and fan-engaging opportunity for the league to be closer with our fans who seem to come from miles around to attend the draft.”
Visitors are expected to radiate out from the Green Bay area to other parts of the state seeking lodging.
“We’re going to be relying on the whole state to house fans from Madison to Milwaukee all the way up and down the state,” Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy said. “The economic impact will be tremendous.”
LaPointe said he expects the weeks leading up to the draft as the area around Lambeau Field is transformed will draw its own set of visitors. Then there’s the draft itself.
“The experience. People coming here from all over, where Green Bay and the Village of Ashwaubenon can put their best foot forward, as we always do for NFL games,” he said. “They’re going to come here and see what makes Green Bay so special.”