PHILADELPHIA — Nearly 100,000 people attended the festivities surrounding the first night of the NFL draft Thursday. That's more than at any Super Bowl except one.
The traveling spring show might be the league's second-most popular event outside of the championship extravaganza. And, like the Super Bowl, hosting it is about to become the objective of nearly every city that has an NFL franchise.
And even one that doesn't.
Sixteen locales — half of the NFL cities — are in Philadelphia observing how the City of Brotherly Love handles the draft. Philly has turned it into a mega-event with all kinds of hands-on entertainment while staging the NFL Draft Experience at the iconic Museum of Art, right by the Rocky Steps.