Brown County Tavern League pushing for extended bar & restaurant hours for NFL Draft
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Bars and restaurants in Green Bay are considering asking the state to extend their opening hours during the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Brown County Tavern League, along with city council member Brian Johnson, met with the city’s Protection and Policy committee to extend the hours establishments are open from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. during the draft.
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“We have hundreds of thousands of people that are planning to come to Green Bay, and we want to make sure that we can serve that many people. In order to do so, we have to be able to relax some of our ordinances so people can go outdoors and freely walk between certain types of facilities,” Johnson says.
The organization says that would not only mean more money but also give ride-share companies like Uber, Lyft, and the league’s Saferide Program more time to get patrons where they need to go safely.
Johnson says, “When you close your bars at 2 a.m., [patrons] are not allowed to stay inside the facility, so you push all those people out onto the streets at the same time without any access to transportation; that’s a recipe for disaster. By expanding the hours, you’re actually creating a larger window for that transportation infrastructure to react and respond.”
In a statement, the league’s president, Tera Hansen, says, “The primary objective of the Brown County Tavern League is to boost the transportation system during the week of the draft, driving guests to different areas of our community so everyone can get around safely. We are [going to] continue to work with the city of Green Bay and surrounding areas to ensure a pleasant, safe, responsible draft week.”
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While the league has discussed its proposal with city leaders, it has yet to make a formal push to state officials, who would have the final say in the matter.
Officials in Ashwaubenon also say that while they have heard about the proposal in Green Bay, village leaders have not been informed of anything similar.
