["Contemporary Economic Policy, EarlyView. ", "\nAbstract\nSince 2015, the National Football League (NFL) draft has been held in various cities around the United States and has been accompanied by claims of large economic benefits. This paper uses daily hotel occupancy data to examine the effects of hosting the NFL draft. The results indicate the 2015–2018 drafts had negligible effects on room rentals and hotel revenue, while the 2019–2024 drafts (excluding 2020 and 2021) had statistically significant but small effects. The paper also presents estimates for other events held in draft‐hosting cities, including NFL and other professional sports games, Formula One races, a Super Bowl, and Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concerts.\n"]