After a successful 2026 Draft in Pittsburgh, the NFL is set to move the event to Washington, D.C. in 2027. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the event will run from April 29 through May 1 in the capital.

The first round will be held on April 29, followed by the second and third rounds on the next day, before the draft concludes with the final four rounds on Day 3. The official schedule came a year after the league awarded Washington the rights to host the 2027 draft on May 5, 2025. The announcement was made during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.

“The NFL Draft continues to grow as one of our biggest and most accessible events, and we are excited to welcome fans and prospects to Washington, D.C., in 2027,” Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business, international and global events, said. “Our nation’s capital will provide an incredible, iconically American stage to host fans from around the world, as we celebrate the next generation of NFL stars.”

The three-day event will take place at multiple locations across the nation’s capital, including the Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 3rd and 7th streets, with the National Mall being the main draft stage. The event will be hosted in partnership with the Washington Commanders and Events DC, with the city set to host multiple draft activities.

That said, Washington joins the elite list of cities to host one of the league’s biggest offseason events. This year’s draft drew an all-time attendance record of over 800,000 fans throughout the event. Whether Washington would be able to surpass that record remains to be seen.

The Commanders released a statement after the NFL announced the draft schedule

After the league announced the 2027 NFL draft schedule, the Commanders released a statement on their social media handle, which included thoughts from Mayor Muriel Bowser.

“We are thrilled to welcome the 2027 NFL Draft to the Sports Capital,” said the Mayor. “We saw the enthusiasm from fans at this year’s Draft, and so, we want people to start planning their trips to DC now. We have world-class hotels and restaurants, spring is a beautiful time to be in DC, and we’re a city that loves to celebrate sports. So, mark your calendars for April 29, and we’ll see you in DC.”

The 2027 draft would mark a significant and historic feat for both the nation’s capital and the Commanders, considering the city will be hosting the event for the first time in modern history. In the last decade itself, the NFL draft has become one of the most-watched events in sports.

Per reports, the draft has drawn over 4 million fans in person since 2015. To put that into perspective, the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit attracted around 775,000 fans. While the number dropped to 600,000 a year later in Green Bay in 2025, it didn’t take much time for the league to recover those numbers, with Pittsburgh drawing over 800,000 fans across three days.

Washington is now heading toward next year’s draft, and there’s no doubt it is expected to surpass the numbers with the 2027 NFL draft class widely considered to be an exceptionally deep and potentially quarterback-heavy class.

“We are thrilled to welcome the 2027 NFL Draft to the Sports Capital,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said. “We saw the enthusiasm from fans at this year’s Draft, and so, we want people to start planning their trips to D.C. now. We have world-class hotels and restaurants, spring is a beautiful time to be in D.C., and we’re a city that loves to celebrate sports. So, mark your calendars for April 29, and we’ll see you in D.C.”

After Washington,  Minneapolis will host the 2028 NFL draft after the league awarded the rights this year, with Cincinnati being considered as the next destination to host the 2029 draft.