Feb. 12--The Windy City is becoming Draft Town. Again.
Already the host city for the NFL draft in 2015 and again this spring, Chicago will be the site of the 2017 NHL draft, sources have confirmed.
The event will be Jan. 23-24, 2017 at the United Center.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said that like the NFL Draft, the event will be privately funded, though the city made major concessions to the NFL to have its draft held in Chicago.
"We did a post-NFL Draft study and there was huge economic (impact)," Emanuel said. 'We're expecting the same. With no taxpayer support, there are huge dividends economically, huge dividends to the city in the sense of jobs and tax revenue but more importantly, just like the NFL, it will be viewed around the world and that's advertising you can't pay for. From Canada to the Czech Republic to Finland to France from Switzerland also, all over the world. People will be seeing the city of Chicago so from advertising, kind of soft dollars so to say, to hard dollars in the sense of people from around the world are coming to the city of Chicago it will be a huge economic and job thing at no taxpayers financial support. We're going to do it privately. I have all the confidence we'll raise the resources to support this."
This would be the first time Chicago has played host to the NHL draft, a fact NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said surprised him.
Hawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz said the plan is to expand the draft festivities to add to the fan experience.
"I think you're going to see that," Wirtz said. "We'll have the atrium open on the East side (of the United Center) at the time and we have the areas around the building. Plus, I think we can do stuff around the city for the whole week."
Hawks players were all for the idea of the city hosting the draft.
"I think it's a great hockey city to host an event like that," said goaltender Scott Darling, a Lemont native.
Added teammate Andrew Shaw: "The city is going to love it. It's a big hockey town now and anyone that's a part of the draft is going to have a great time in Chicago."
Ticket sales, related events and other details will be announced later, NHL officials said Thursday.
"The energy and passion Chicago has for the Blackhawks makes United Center the ideal setting for the 2017 NHL Draft." Bettman said in a statement. "The Draft will be one of the central moments of our Centennial, and the NHL family is looking forward to bringing this signature event to Chicago for the first time."
The draft originated in 1963 and was held in Montreal until 1985, when it took place in Toronto. From that point on, the draft has rotated from city to city.
The NHL draft will likely be a party on a significantly smaller scale than the massive NFL event that was held in Chicago for the first time last April and set to return this spring.
To convince the NFL to pick Chicago over other suitors for its three-day extravaganza, Emanuel granted the league free use of the historic Auditorium Theatre for nearly three weeks. He also agreed to waive a $937,000 rental fee for the NFL's use of part of Grant Park to set up an elaborate "fan festival" for visitors, and cordoned off stretches of downtown streets for weeks around the park and the theater.
The city later billed the city's non-profit tourism agency Choose Chicago $350,000 for incurred police overtime and other government services associated with the NFL draft, money that was paid from private sources.
"We're going to raise the resurouces to defer the costs that may come in from a security standpoint," Emanuel said. "We wouldn't want the franchise to do it, we'll do it. It will be private and based on preliminary phone calls and somebody who is a veteran in this effort I believe with all confidence we're going do that with resources."
The City Council this week approved an Emanuel-backed deal for the Blackhawks to build a new practice facility and community hockey complex on city-owned property near the United Center.
The Blackhawks and Rush University Hospital agreed to pay $24 million for 15 acres that made up Malcolm X College's old campus. The city appraised the land at $26.7 million, and will pay about $8 million to knock down the old school building.
The team has said it will also provide free use of the ice sheets in the two-sheet facility as part of a community benefits package it values at $3 million over the next five years. It's not clear how the team arrived at that figure.
"It's a great opportunity for the kids who will be selected and a great town to have it in," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "So it'll be great."
