Speaking on Thursday for the first time since March, Jeff Lurie made it pretty clear he'd like for Philadelphia to host the NFL draft again.
And he'd like to host a Super Bowl too — but he's far less optimistic about those chances.
The 2017 draft in Philly was a resounding success and the NFL praised the city for the event.
A record 250,000 fans attended this year's event on the Ben Franklin Parkway and there was an estimated $94.9 million economic impact for the city.
"The draft was one huge Philly success," Lurie said. "Personally, it meant a lot to me. I loved showcasing Philly across the country. I tell people wherever I go how incredible our fans are. There are fans of other teams, owners I've talked to about it. But they have their teams.
"It's very special here. It's incredibly special to own a team and it’s incredibly special to have this fan base. The draft kind of showed it to the rest of the country, which I loved. I think it was great economically for the city. I hope the city and the NFL can come together and bring another draft to Philly."
It has been reported that the NFL is unlikely to pick Philly to host the 2018 draft. Dallas submitted a formal bid for the event and might be the favorite.
NFL
On Thursday, Lurie was asked specifically if he had given any more thought to bidding for a Super Bowl to be played at Lincoln Financial Field.
Super Bowl XLVIII was held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., in 2014, showing a cold-weather location could work. But since then, the games have been held in Phoenix, San Francisco and Houston. And the next ones are scheduled for Minneapolis (dome), Atlanta, Miami, Tampa and Los Angeles.
Lurie said a Super Bowl would be "a lot more difficult" than getting the draft again.
"If we were able to build a retractable dome stadium, I think we would have had a Super Bowl by now," Lurie said. "It was attempted in New York. It was successful. But it's not something I think the league is plotting to repeat. It may happen, but it's more iffy."