On Thursday, Chi-Town becomes Draft Town — the NFL Draft, that is.

It’s the first time since 1964 the draft has been anywhere other than New York, and Chicago officials are ecstatic to host the three-day “fan festival.” The city won its bid to host this year’s NFL draft, and it’s going big.

There’ll be football clinics for kids, a replica of an NFL locker room, and Buckingham Fountain will reflect team colors during the draft. Over the top?

“I don’t believe that the term ‘over the top’ is something that could apply to the NFL, because everything they do is over-the-top,” says Todd Jewell, who teaches finance at Texas State. He adds that the payoff for Chicago is lots of buzz.

But having won the bid, the city will spend $3 to $4 million on this extravaganza. Robert Baade, who teaches economics at Lake Forest College calls it the “winner’s curse.”

He says even though the city promised not to spend public money on this, it will hit taxpayers one way or another. The real winner, he says, is the NFL, especially if cities start bidding for the draft every year.