This year, the NFL Draft will be held in downtown Kansas City, MO, home of the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s not a bonus for winning the Super Bowl, however, just a happy coincidence. Draft locations are chosen two full years in advance to allot plenty of planning time.
What’s interesting about this Draft is that the host site comes with multiple national landmarks, including the National World War I Museum and Memorial, as well as the Federal Reserve Bank’s Money Museum, sitting at 1 Memorial Drive in KCMO.
Located just a half-mile from the Draft site, the museum will remain open for visitors, offering tours between Thursday, April 27 and Friday, April 28.
Between 11 am and 4 pm each day, fans can tour the facility, free of charge, and learn about “The Fed” with eye-opening tours. Visitors can take in historic facts about the location, federal funds, as well as money printing processes.
Tours are self-led and allow guests to learn about money, as well as the Federal Reserve and how it impacts the U.S. Dollar across the country.
They can even take home a free souvenir: a football bag filled with shredded dollars. Once printed bills are declared damaged or unfit for public use, they are shredded and replaced by a Federal Bank location.
Other activities include a scavenger hunt and folding origami rings out of decommissioned bills. Additional NFL-themed events will take place in and around the Federal Bank. The Bank has also posted instructions online on folding a dollar-bill football, just like the kind you used to make in grade school.
Kansas City’s Federal Bank location is one of the largest territories, #10, which covers Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Northern New Mexico, and the western portion of Missouri. District 10 also hosts branches located in Denver, Oklahoma City and Omaha, Nebraska.
The branch is managed by Esther L. George, who serves as President of the Kansas City location. She has been in office since 2011 as CEO of the 10th district. As of 2022, George is also a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee.
In order to gain access to the Draft grounds, which will be fenced off, registrants must register via a mobile app with the NFL. The app and entry are free but require identification. Those 18 and older must also present a government ID at the Bank entrance.
According to the bank’s website, there is “airport-like” security, including x-ray machines. All visitors and their belongings must be screened before entering the building.
Outside of the draft, the Money Museum is still free and open to the public, Monday through Friday, between 9:30 am and 4 pm; it is closed on all major bank holidays.