APPLETON – The majority of hotels in Fox Cities have rooms available for the 2025 NFL draft dates, according to Pam Seidl, executive director of the Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Seidl said the roughly 3,600 hotel rooms in the area’s 40 hotels are expected to host around 9,000 to 10,000 visitors.
Appleton and the greater Fox Cities region, which are about a 30-minute drive from Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, are a destination for NFL fans intending to stay overnight during the nationwide sports event on April 24-26, 2025.
The host city expects an estimated 250,000 visors to come to town during the draft dates. Due to an influx of NFL and team staff, as well as fans, roughly 4,800 hotel rooms in Brown County were already mostly booked out last May, according to reporting by the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Despite the number remaining hotel rooms, she said anyone planning to stay in the Fox Cities should book their rooms now, as the bureau will start to see the booking pace pick up significantly after the holidays.
So far, in Appleton’s downtown, however, several hotels are expecting the booking rate to climb after the college football bowl games end in mid-January. The Hilton Paper Valley has less than 100 rooms available out of 388 rooms during the draft dates, according to Linda Garvey, the hotel’s director of business development and community affairs.
A few hotel rooms in Kaukauna, Little Chute, and Kimberly — areas a little closer to the stadium — remain available for April 23-27, 2025, according to Booking.com and Hotel.com, two popular booking websites.
Brillion, Fremont, and New London — smaller communities that are a short drive away from Appleton — each have hotel rooms available as of Dec. 9, according to the booking sites.
Guests should also expect rates to be slightly higher than normal. According to Seidl, the average daily rate across the board in the Fox Cities has been around $155 per night, and the rate has probably risen to anywhere between $250 to $450.
So far, three Appleton area hotels have rooms available at per-night prices for a single adult that range from $336 to $439.
On its individual website, the Double Tree by Hilton Appleton starts at $381 per night, Hampton Inn Appleton – Fox River Mall Area charges $336, and the price for County Inn & Suites By Radisson, Appleton – Fox Valley Mall Area is $439 per night. Last May, the Press-Gazette’s reporting indicated some Appleton-area hotels listed rooms available at per-night prices ranging from $183 to $279.
Seidl said the bureau will offer shuttle buses between the Fox Cities and Green Bay. That bus service, alongside extra flights at the Appleton International Airport, will ensure visitors’ stays are “convenient and efficient.”
She said her team is working on key details regarding the availability of buses, bus drivers, and the two sites from which the service will operate. Guests are expected to make reservations and to pay for the service, she added.
Zhen Wang is a business reporter for The Post-Crescent. Reach her at zwang@gannett.com or 920-993-7117.
