2025 NFL Draft: Milwaukee looking to cash in on tourism

MILWAUKEE - The 2025 NFL Draft is in Green Bay later this month and will bring big league crowds to Wisconsin.

Some of those people and their money will be stopping right here in Milwaukee. Local businesses hope for a big catch of tourism.

What we know:

Last year, Meghan Miles, owner of City Tours MKE, opened Station 1846 in the Walker's Point neighborhood. Now she's getting ready to welcome visiting football fans.

"I hope to see many tourists and great success for Milwaukee and for our business," Miles said. "We are looking to have people coming to Station, grabbing drinks, enjoying the environment here at Station, but then also taking our NFL tour that we designed particularly for that week."

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

The backstory:

And going back in time to showcase Milwaukee's NFL history, which includes the Green Bay Packers. One of the stops on this NFL Draft tour in Milwaukee is where the Packers played some of their games: County Stadium. 

"For them to pay the bills, and stay afloat, they started scheduling games in Milwaukee," City Tours MKE guide Dave Rusch said. "I love telling the story of County Stadium and just how archaic it was and how bad it was from a football fan’s perspective, to be watching a football game on a baseball field."

Organizers expect 200,000 people will huddle in Green Bay for the 2025 draft. And with all those people, they expect the whole state will see some green.

Dig deeper:

Visit Milwaukee says hotels are seeing a spike in bookings for the week of the draft.

"So how much of that $100 million pot can we get? That's what we're focused on," Visit Milwaukee chief marketing officer Josh Albrecht said. "Knowing that our occupancy numbers are trending up, that's a good sign that it's going to be a good chunk."

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

Hotels are now 60% booked and that number is expected to go up.

"We know there's not enough rooms in green bay to accommodate all the fans and all the players and all the nfl officials and everything," he said.

Milwaukee tourism leaders say they're ready for the crowds as during the draft weekend, the city looks to score some green and gold.

Visit Milwaukee says past drafts showed large crowds coming from within a six-hour drive from the draft location. A lot of those people will be driving right through Milwaukee, or staying overnight.