Experiencing An NFL Draft Party With The NY Jets

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The NFL Draft Party at MetLife Stadium gave New York Jets and Giants fans a rare chance to experience the stadium in a way most people never do on game day. From walking on the field and touring the New York Jets locker room to seeing the team’s Super Bowl trophy and watching the draft from the stadium’s club levels, the event turned a television broadcast into a memorable New York football experience.

Many years ago, the NFL Draft was held on a Saturday afternoon in April and broadcast on ESPN. The first time the draft was ever televised was in 1980, when ESPN was a brand-new network. While hardcore NFL fans always tuned in and paid attention to the draft, it was, in essence, not that big of a deal for anyone else besides football fans. In 2017, the NFL Draft is now considered a prime-time event and is hosted on two channels beginning at 8:00 p.m. on a Thursday night, right in the middle of prime-time heaven. The draft continues Friday night and ends Saturday afternoon, making it a three-day event covered by both the NFL Network and ESPN. The three-day concept originally began in 2010.

In recent years, the NFL Draft has expanded from a single party at the drafting site to a series of NFL team parties held at stadiums across the country. This past Thursday night, my son and I attended our fourth annual New York Jets Draft Party at MetLife Stadium. As season ticket holders, we are invited for free every year. It’s an invitation that we have accepted since the team began hosting the draft parties four years ago.

The first year the New York Jets hosted their draft party, fans were allowed to celebrate the draft with on-field access. The simple concept of being allowed to walk onto the turf of an NFL stadium is worth the trip alone for a die-hard NFL fan. And it’s also a pretty cool experience even if you’re not a big-time NFL fan.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Jets NFL Draft Party was the team’s invitation for season ticket holders to tour the actual New York Jets locker room. By arriving early to the NFL Draft Party, New York Jets fans did not have to wait too long to enter the Jets locker room. Once inside the locker room, there was no rush to exit. Fans were allowed to take their time taking pictures and, most incredibly, allowed to pose in front of the New York Jets 1969 Super Bowl Trophy.

The New York Jets are not the only NFL football team to host the NFL Draft Party at MetLife Stadium every year. The New York Giants also participate in the festivities. In the first year’s draft held at MetLife Stadium, teams split the field down the middle with a rope. Giants fans were on one side of the fifty-yard line and Jets fans on the other side. The following year, both teams took down the ropes and let fans mingle across the entire playing field. The NFL Draft Party at MetLife Stadium turned out to be a very family-friendly event, with many young kids enjoying a variety of on-field games.

For my younger son, the highlight of the NFL Draft Party was the opportunity to stand in line and receive autographs from current New York Jets players. New York Jets owner Woody Johnson also came down to the field and talked with fans. While the New York Giants do not employ a cheerleading team, the New York Jets have heavily promoted their popular cheerleaders. On the field, the New York Jets cheerleaders smiled widely and eagerly posed for pictures with many older, smiling male NFL fans.

For the first two years, in 2014 and 2015, the NFL Draft Party at MetLife Stadium was an exciting event made very special by granting fans access to the locker rooms, special activities, and the wonderful experience of walking the football field. Standing on the fifty-yard line and staring up into the stands was, for many, a surreal experience.

In 2016, the NFL Draft Party at MetLife Stadium offered fans a very different experience from the previous two years. MetLife Stadium had booked a motocross event, which closed the field to NFL fans. Wanting to still offer fans a special experience, the New York Jets and Giants held their NFL Draft Party in the expensive clubhouses that the average fan cannot afford during the regular season. The Chase Club and Toyota Club are large indoor clubs reserved for season-ticket holders of club seats. These are very expensive seats, averaging $400 per seat per game during the regular season. These are also seats that carry PSL licenses of up to $25,000 per seat. So the opportunity to experience the MetLife Stadium clubs is limited to most Jets and Giants fans. However, in 2016, those clubhouses were opened to all season ticket holders to enjoy the NFL Draft Party.

In 2016, Jets fans were offered the Chase Club, while Giants fans were offered the Toyota Club. Both clubs are located in the mezzanine section of the stadium and stretch from end zone to end zone on opposite sides. While we were very disappointed last year at not being able to walk the field, the experience of enjoying the clubs was well worth the trip to the stadium. The clubs are beautiful. They offer comfortable seating with great sightlines to television monitors throughout the club. There are multiple bars also lined with comfortable seats. The bathrooms are upscale and very clean.

There are many food stands spread across the club, much like a standard mall food court. We spent the first half of the night eating and watching the NFL Draft on the television monitors. The only issue we had with hearing the draft was the crowd noise inside the clubhouse. However, the clubhouse opened up to the mezzanine section, where you could sit outside and watch the draft on the large scoreboards. The outdoor public announcement system broadcast the audio loud and clear, so one could hear every analytical word from the NFL channel’s draft broadcasters.

In 2017, the Jets and Giants sent their fans back to the clubhouses once again because a motocross event was being set up on the field. This time, both teams had the fans switch sides, so the Jets fans were sent to the Toyota Club while the Giants fans were sent to the Chase Club. Interestingly, they also had us park on opposite sides of the stadium. After experiencing both clubs, it is too difficult to conclude that either is superior to the other. Both clubs are almost identical.

The New York Giants and Jets do a very nice job at hosting their NFL Draft Parties. Some people may think it’s crazy to drive all the way to a football stadium to watch a draft on a television, but hardcore NFL fans love the draft, and being at the stadium for it just doubles the fun. Will we do it again next year? Well, in all honesty, after sitting in traffic for three hours on a weeknight to get to the stadium during rush hour, the denial of field access may make us think twice. Nah, we are hardcore; we will be there.