L.A. or Chicago to host 2015 draft

It's down to the Windy City or the City of Angels.

The 2015 NFL draft will take place in Chicago or Los Angeles, commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday.

New York City also had been considered, but Goodell said it has been ruled out. Sources previously told ESPN that scheduling issues had made New York -- the regular home of the draft -- the least likely option.

"We're focusing solely on Los Angeles and Chicago now," Goodell told reporters Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Radio City Music Hall, the usual host venue in New York, could not offer available dates in April or May, Goodell said. The 2015 draft is expected to take place either April 22-25 or April 29-May 2. 

"We had 12 cities that were interested," Goodell said. "We felt the best thing to do was focus on the three cities, because they had such a tremendous interest. There are very attractive aspects to each of those cities. Because we don't have the appropriate dates in May, our focus is completely on Los Angeles and Chicago.

"They both have tremendous bids."

Goodell did not provide a timetable on when the NFL would make its decision.

"I just got an update two days ago," he said. "I believe the decision will come in late summer, but we're not going to be bound by that. We're going to do the right thing."

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed to ESPN that league executives have already visited multiple undisclosed locations in both Chicago and Los Angeles.

Goodell also said the league is investigating scenarios if the draft moves from three days to four.

"We're talking about different concepts, primarily how to strengthen the last day and whether we should maybe push that back to the clubs a little bit more and allow the clubs to have a little bit more freedom as more of a club day," he said. "Maybe they would announce the picks from there. We're looking at everything under the sun, because there's a great interest in it and we want to do something that's more responsive to our fans."

This year's draft was held May 8-10, a couple of weeks later than it had been traditionally in the past.

Multiple teams told Goodell that they felt rushed by the change -- not so much for the added buildup, but for the lack of time on the back end; they want more time to be able to get their rookies ready and build their rosters.

Information from ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter and ESPN.com's Darren Rovell was used in this report.