2015 NFL draft will be held in Chicago

The NFL draft is moving from the city that never sleeps to the Windy City.

Chicago will host the 2015 draft, ending months of speculation over where the event would be held.

It will take place April 30-May 2 -- a week earlier than the 2014 draft, which took place May 8-10 -- at Roosevelt University's Auditorium Theatre. There also will be an outdoor fanfest all three days.

The Chicago Bears announced the news Thursday on their verified Twitter account.

The last time that the draft was not held in New York was 1964, when it was at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago. Los Angeles was the other possible destination.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in July that Radio City Music Hall, which had hosted the draft since 2006, couldn't offer any available dates in April or May.

"We are excited to have fans from throughout the midwest experience the NFL Draft," Goodell said in a statement. "We look forward to returning the event to the city of Chicago and working with the city, Choose Chicago, and the Chicago Sports Commission to create a week-long celebration of football for our fans."

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The Auditorium Theatre, which opened in 1889, has hosted everything from operas and concerts to speeches by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William McKinley.

"Chicago is pleased to welcome the 2015 NFL Draft to America's heartland," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. "Next year, NFL fans from across the country will travel here or tune in as the future of their team is decided in Chicago. We look forward to working with the Chicago Bears, the NFL, and our neighborhood partners to make this an event that highlights our world class city and reinvests in our communities."

The draft will follow the same format as recent years, with the first round taking place in primetime on Thursday, April 30. Rounds 2 and 3 will be on Friday, May 1, and Rounds 4-7 will close out the weekend on Saturday, May 2.