March 02--As part of this spring's NFL draft, the Bears will host an event at Soldier Field on April 28 where fans can tour the stadium, get player autographs and kick field goals.
Tickets, which start at $25, will go on sale Thursday starting at 11 a.m. at chicagobears.com.
The event will go from 4-11 p.m. Fans there will also be able to watch draft coverage on Soldier Field's video boards.
Plans to sell tickets to the draft at the Auditorium Theatre or in what last year was called "selection square" in Grant Park have not yet been announced. In 2015, fans had to register for a chance to win two free tickets. The registration process was open from March 23 through April 5.
The lottery was for 2,800 tickets inside the theater for the draft's first round, another 2,800 for Friday's second and third rounds, and 1,000 tickets each for Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the square.
This year, the draft will be from April 28-30 in Chicago.
Last year, approximately 200,000 visitors attended the free fan festival last year in Grant Park. A study by the Sport Industry Research Center at Temple University pegged direct economic impact to Chicago at nearly $44 million, including hotel revenue, dining, sales tax revenue and temporary jobs.
The study was commissioned by Choose Chicago, the city's convention and tourism bureau, which lured the draft back to Chicago after a 50-year run in New York. Chicago was the backdrop for 8.8 million TV viewers on ESPN and NFL Network during the first day of the draft alone, according to Nielsen. With other major networks also camped out in Grant Park, Choose Chicago said the value of the TV and digital media was nearly $115 million.
