The NFL Draft Cost Chicago's Tourism Bureau $350,000

By Kate Shepherd in News on Oct 19, 2015 9:38PM

The NFL Draft cost a lot of money. Nonprofit tourism and convention bureau Choose Chicago is set to reimburse the city for about $350,000 in police overtime and other government services related to the three-day event, according to the Tribune.

Choose Chicago, which organized the draft and accompanying festival, should pay the city back by the end of 2015. The city invoiced the agency for about $215,000 in police, fire and other services and will also invoice about $136,000 for costs from the city's Office of Emergency Management.

The NFL Draft wasn't supposed to use any taxpayer funds and the money used to host the draft was raised privately, Choose Chicago spokeswoman Meghan Risch told the Tribune. It cost about $4.5 million to help host the draft.

The tourism agency receives most of its funding from taxpayers so it has been hit hard by the state's financial crisis. About a quarter of its 2014 budget came from government grants and about 40 percent of its budget comes from the state. They recently announced a layoff of one-fourth of their workforce and the closure of two international offices.

The NFL Draft will be held in Chicago again next year.