NFL draft attendance record broken with over 700,000 attendees in Detroit

The NFL draft has hit a new attendance record after more than 700,000 fans flooded downtown Detroit for the three-day event.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivered the news at Campus Martius Park during the third and final day of the draft.

“It has been a historic week here in the great city of Detroit,” Whitmer said Saturday. “We showed the world what the Motor City is all about.”

While it will take years to know if this week’s picks were successful, there is no doubt that Detroit made the most of the opportunity to host hundreds of thousands of fans and show more than 50 million viewers the new city.

Motown beat Music City’s three-day attendance record of 600,000 set in 2019, when fans filled Broadway in Nashville.

The NFL did not charge fans to attend the event in Detroit, although area visitors and residents were expected to generate more than $160 million in economic impact in sold-out hotels, crowded bars and restaurants, as well as stores in the heart of Detroit. inner city.

Former Lions running back Billy Sims enjoyed a brisk barbecue sale Saturday from his restaurant under a tent on a sidewalk along Woodward Avenue.