John Dugan and the Titletown Auctions Co. staff didn’t quite know what kind of a last-minute bidding frenzy 483 items salvaged from the 2025 NFL Draft grounds would generate.
Dugan expected the random, unique pieces of the 2025 NFL Draft memorabilia could generate $10,000 for the Northeast Chapter of the American Red Cross of Wisconsin. The total bids already exceeded that amount by May 21, the auction’s last day, with those last hours and minutes of bidding still to go.
The nearly 450 different bidders didn’t disappoint. Every one of the 483 items Dugan grabbed from the NFL Draft grounds outside Lambeau Field sold for prices from $2 up to $2,155.
The result: Dugan and his employees Michell Devroy and Ben Staudenmaier on July 2 presented Red Cross chapter leaders with a big check for $33,931.
“This whole process has been incredibly rewarding for us,” Dugan said. “As a Red Cross volunteer, I get to witness firsthand the impact they provide right here in Northeast Wisconsin. Being able to help support their mission just means so much to us.”
Dugan said the response from bidders and buyers meant a lot to him.
“This is a true example of what happens when people come together for a great cause,” he said in a news release.
Here’s a closer look at the auction and how it will help the region.
How will the Red Cross use these donations?
Executive Director Rebecca Rockhill said the funds will remain with the Northeast Chapter of the American Red Cross of Wisconsin where they will help fund emergency disaster and home fire relief services.
“We are very grateful for this generous donation to our disaster relief fund,” said Rebecca Rockhill, the chapter’s executive director. “A gift to the disaster relief fund fuels our mission and it means the Red Cross will always be there to deliver vital help whenever and wherever disaster strikes.”
The chapter provides services in 13 counties in northeastern Wisconsin and three counties in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The service area includes Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc, Marinette and Door County in Wisconsin plus Menominee, Iron Mountain and Escanaba in Michigan.
Highest winning bid was more than $2,100. The 5 most expensive items sold were all 2025 NFL Draft banners
A 10-foot by 20-foot canvas banner emblazoned with the NFL Draft logo, Bud Light logo, a football and the words “Green Bay Wisconsin” sold for $2,155, the highest price of any item in the auction. In fact, large-size banners accounted for all five of the most-expensive items, and nine of the top 10.
Together, the top five items raised $6,245. Those five items are:
The only top 10 item that’s not a banner? A faux support beam from the NFL Draft stage that sold for $510.
2025 NFL Draft fundraising auction by the numbers
Dugan provided some details on just how much work went into the auction and the attention and interest it drew.
Auction started out as a search for a 2025 NFL Draft sign outside Lambeau Field
Dugan, a collector of local signage, visited the NFL Draft grounds hoping to add a memento to his collection. But as he watched crews dismantle structures and local nonprofits salvage furnishings and materials, he saw a lot of random stuff headed for dumpsters and had an idea.
He got permission to grab as many wayfinding signs, food menus, Draft stage parts, screens, photographs and banners as he could with the intent to auction them off and secured the support of the Red Cross chapter, too. It was a bonus for Dugan that so many of the items he grabbed would have otherwise ended up in a landfill.
“Keeping all of this stuff out of a landfill is a priority for me,” Dugan said in May. “Trying to find alternate uses for stuff is right up my alley.”
Dugan on July 2 noted that one of those items he salvaged while standing ankle-deep in dumpster water would become the highest-priced item sold in the auction.
For Dugan, meeting collectors of Green Bay, Packers, NFL Draft and local history became an added bonus
As if saving stuff from landfills and helping the local chapter of the Red Cross wasn’t enough, the auction also connected Dugan with many other local collectors of all things Green Bay Packers, local history and the NFL Draft.
He said it didn’t take much for them to share their stories of why they bid, how they planned to repurpose random bits of the stage and what connected them to the items they pursued.
“Being able to see all the fellow collectors who come in and watch their eyes light up when they see the items they’ve been fighting for a couple of weeks in the auction for, it really made my day,” Dugan said. “Being able to hear their stories on why that particular item spoke to them and what they plan on doing with it.”
This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.
Contact business reporter Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: From a dumpster to disaster relief, auction of NFL Draft items benefits local Red Cross
Reporting by Jeff Bollier, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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