Airbnbs still available near Lambeau a little over a week out from the NFL draft

Nearly two years ago, when the NFL announced that its smallest city would host its largest offseason event in 2025, Port Edwards native Matt Bassuener remembers his phone lighting up with roughly 20 people asking about the vacation rental property he owns in Green Bay.

Bassuener, a former Arena Football League quarterback, and his wife own a short-term rental — commonly known as an Airbnb or Vrbo — that’s about a 10-minute walk from Lambeau Field. The stadium is set to host the NFL draft in a little more than a week, bringing potentially tens of thousands of visitors with it over the event’s three days.

In July 2024, Bassuener booked his Green Bay rental to a group from Milwaukee planning to stay for the draft. Bassuener said the group booked the unit at $5,000 per night, more than double the price of the rental during a typical Packers game day.

“Unfortunately, that group canceled on me at the beginning of this year,” Bassuener said. “I have a refund policy, and they were within their rights to get their refund.”

After the group canceled, Bassuener said his account manager advised him to “hold the line” on pricing for the unit. But he still hasn’t had luck finding renters for the draft, and has recently dropped the price to around $800 per night, less than what he charges on game days.

“My own gut instinct would have been to drop [the price] sooner,” Bassuener said. “It’s obviously dropping drastically now — it’s still not booked.”

His isn’t the only short-term rental within walking distance of Lambeau Field that’s still on the market for the NFL draft. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, multiple properties still had availability near the stadium during the draft both in Green Bay and Ashwaubenon, according to Airbnb’s website. They ranged in price between hundreds to thousands of dollars per night. 

Rental owners say there are a number of factors as to why properties are still available, ranging from demand not meeting initial expectations to the event being free to attend and being within driving distance for many Wisconsinites.

Green Bay resident Nicole Poley owns a short-term rental that’s about a five minute walk from Lambeau Field still on the market for the days of the draft. Initially, she said most of the vacation rentals in her Airbnb’s neighborhood were listing for between $7,000 and $10,000 a night. 

“At the time of the announcement of the draft coming, for my husband and I specifically, I think we were just kind of following suit with what the neighborhood was doing and the community was doing,” Poley said.

As the draft has inched closer, she said she’s dropped the price on her rental incrementally from the nearly $7,000 range. It’s now listed for a little over $800 per night and requires a three-night minimum stay. She said she’s open to removing the minimum stay requirement.

Because the NFL draft is a free event, she said it doesn’t necessarily have the same weight that a Packers game, a concert, a corporate conference or a wedding have for visitors. Those events, she says, are “commitments.”

“I think the draft is not that,” she said. “It’s three days of entertainment that you could come for two hours, even if you drove from Milwaukee, and be like, ‘Well, I’m over it. I’m going to go home.’”

She also said there was an influx of additional short-term rentals around the draft that may have oversaturated the market. 

Corey Behnke, president of the Lombardi Neighborhood Association, lives in a home near Lambeau Field and owns a short-term rental down the street. He said his home typically rents for around $1,500 on Packers game days, but he was able to rent it out for $5,500 per night on the Thursday and Friday of the draft. 

“As soon as we removed the three night minimum and moved it to a two night, like we do for game day, we immediately booked the next day,” he said. 

Brad Toll, CEO of Discover Green Bay, said the draft is typically a family outing and doesn’t see big corporate groups attend like the Super Bowl. 

He said Green Bay being a reasonable driving distance from Madison, Milwaukee and other Wisconsin cities also means that a portion of the attendees will make the decision to come at the last minute.

“I have a feeling, and it’s just an opinion having been in the industry for a long time,” Toll said. “When people see the weather forecast [and know] you don’t need tickets because it’s a free event, people are going to go, ‘Hey, let’s drive up to Green Bay and check it out.’”