PHOENIX — Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of Kansas City Sports Commission and Visit KC, is certain visitors will "feel the heartbeat of our city" during the 2023 NFL Draft.
After the first renderings of the event were released Friday, Nelson sat down with KSHB 41 anchor Dia Wall to discuss the excitement.
Dia: The day has finally come. We get a look at the 2023 NFL Draft main stage at Union Station.
Kathy, it looks incredible.
Kathy: We are so proud. The NFL has worked so hard on this. They've been in our city multiple times this past six to eight months, and I think this is really showing how it's going to come to life.
Dia: I was one of the skeptics when it came to Union Station as the site. Talk to me about what we're looking at and the things maybe we don't see.
Kathy: Right. So what you see here is this is what the stage should look like. And you can see all the way in front of Union Station, all the way out to Pershing. This is the viewing area.
So this will be able to be viewed Thursday, Friday, Saturday when it's live on television. What you're not seeing is the entire south side of the National World War I Museum and Memorial, where the fan experience will take place.
If you're a football junkie or just a little interested in what's going on, all 32 teams will be represented in that fan experience.
Dia: When we were talking about just some of the features — you see the fountain, you see the stage — it's also a really large space. We've been at a few drafts together now. The largest footprint?
Kathy: So far, we're told this is the largest footprint for a draft. We’re probably at least two if not three times bigger than what you saw in Las Vegas, which is kind of a pinch-me moment.
But if you think about the footprint of this site, and then all the way up onto that North Lawn for viewing and then all the way back on the south lawn for all the activities, it is massive.
Dia: What about seeing it come to life makes you most proud?
Kathy: I think what's most proud for me is that they really took their time and met with us and got to know us — about what's important for our city and the historic Union Station, the historic World War I, all of that being kind of our heart of our city and being able to bring that into the stage.
This is so unique for them to have this as the backdrop for the stage and not actually video walls, so there'll be certainly a lot of video and monitors all back there. But I think to really see and showcase what we know is the heart of our city is so cool.
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