NFL Draft in Nashville: Private bookings means fewer honky-tonks will be open to public

Update: This story was updated with additional information at 3 p.m. Friday.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to flood Lower Broadway for NFL Draft events, fueling the usually raucous strip with even more energy in the last weekend of April.

But fans hoping to stop in to Acme Feed and Seed or Hard Rock Cafe will have to make other plans. 

Some of the most popular honky-tonks, including those two, are partially or fully booked for private events from April 25-27.

With less bar and restaurant space available, bigger crowds can be expected inside the Broadway venues that keep their doors open.

► Where you can go:Here's which Broadway honky-tonks will be open to the public during the draft

To help meet the demand, festival planners will erect about 20 street kiosks selling beer, water and soda. Food trucks will also be parked along the route. 

Broadway will be closed to traffic and attendees can carry alcoholic drinks outside, within the festival area. 

"It's a world class, free event," said Butch Spyridon, CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. "But it will require planning and patience."

Downtown traffic will be exacerbated by the 2019 St. Jude Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon through the weekend. Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers will also perform at Bridgestone Arena Saturday night. 

Closed for private parties

Draft festivities are spread across several sites in what NFL officials say is the largest-ever footprint for the player-recruitment announcements. 

The main stage – as long as the width of a football field – is being constructed where Broadway meets the Cumberland River. 

Directly across the river, a draft village will surround Nissan Stadium with games, live music, bars, player interactions and more. 

NFL team representatives will make draft selections at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and the process will be broadcast at the Broadway main stage. Screens will also be spread throughout the festival. 

Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley and other performances will follow selection announcements there each evening. Fireworks are also planned every night.

Only a few honky-tonks will be completely closed to the public. But a number of them will have partial closures, particularly for private rooftop parties. 

Rooftops at Ole Red and FGL House will be closed to the public. Their downstairs bars, restaurants and dance floors will remain open. 

Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery is booked privately on Thursday, but will have downstairs areas open on Friday and Saturday. 

Doc Holliday’s Saloon will host a private party Thursday evening. But owner Barrett Hobbs said he turned down rental offers for other times, and will keep his Whiskey Bent Saloon and Bootleggers Inn fully open to the public.

“The money was really good," Hobbs said. "But I feel like there are a lot of tourists that are going to be in town that have nothing to do with the Draft or Jimmy Buffet or the marathon. I didn't want to tell them they couldn't come in."

'They want the real Nashville'

The NFL booked Acme and Hard Rock, which face the main stage at Broadway and 1st Avenue, for its employees and guests. 

Next door to Acme, Nashville Underground's four-story building with a two-level rooftop is also fully rented by the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. 

"I'm a guitar player, I could have lived my whole life and not had anything to do with the NFL Draft," said Nashville Underground co-owner Joey DeGraw. "It's certainly one of the most talked about things I've seen in Nashville."

DeGraw said the private booking will actually make the weekend more manageable for his staff. 

"We'll have less crushed beer cans on the floor," DeGraw said. "There's more room for surprise when it's open to the public."

The big event will draw more profits than usual for honky-tonks, which can already pull in $1 million per month. 

Table and bottle service fees at Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row will increase beyond the usual $1,000 minimum, said VIP host Blake Miller.

Whiskey Row is closed for a private event on Thursday, but will be open on Friday and Saturday.

"We're going to be slammed," Miller said. "I've been getting calls ever since the Draft was announced from locals, players, family members of players, and some of the people who would be drafted looking for that nightclub atmosphere."

Emily Cousins, general manager at Robert’s Western World, said Robert’s decided not to rent out space to private parties.

"Typically, if everyone else is doing it, we don’t,” Cousins said. “We are pretty old-fashioned when it comes down to it.”

The bar will host NFL directors for a lunch party on Friday, and will reserve some tables. Robert’s doesn’t have TVs or Wi-Fi access and doesn’t plan to change that for the draft weekend.

"The NFL directors coming there, they want tradition and they want the real Nashville - the old Nashville," Cousins said. "They like it just for the music. That is our main focus."

Reporter Jamie McGee contributed to this report.