With the recent conclusion of the 2024 NFL Draft, we saw a lot of high value players find their new homes. Football fans expected names like Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Brock Bowers to be called on and drafted. However, what they might not have seen coming was an attendance record being shattered.
The city of Detroit was packed on draft weekend and it is no surprise to people that live in Michigan. The recent success of last year’s Detroit Lions team has given the city new life! Gone are those same old lions (SOL) and the new era, led by ‘Jared Goff’ chants, has arrived.
The previous record was set in Nashville, Tennessee over a three-day draft weekend in 2019. The previous record was 600,000 people. Detroit was up to the challenge and shattered that record. The 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, Michigan brought in a total of 775,000 fans.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced on draft day one that the city of Detroit was already on pace to beat the draft day record once they had hit maximum capacity. On day one alone there were a total of 275,000 in attendance. These were not just Lions fans, the draft brought in football fans from all across the country, but on television there was a definite sea of Honolulu Blue.
On draft day two, Detroit was informed once again that they had hit their maximum capacity of fans with around the same number of attendees. They were then challenged to break the record. After the second day, Detroit only needed 100,000 fans to break the all-time attendance record.
Say no more for the Motor City. Much like the heart of their sports teams— they don’t quit.
Detroit Shatters Record on Day Three
As the 2024 Draft was coming to a close, Detroit brought out Governor Gretchen Whitmer to announce one of their late round picks. She was definitely representing the city. The governor was decked in Lions gear from head-to-toe. Before the pick was announced, Whitmer first got to inform the city of Detroit that it had in fact broken the all-time draft weekend attendance record with what was approximately 700,000 fans in attendance. The count was not official at that point. The city erupted and now the city of Detroit will be in the history books for years to come.
I guarantee that if there was not a capacity limit, we would have seen the attendance number hit one million. The city of Detroit does not play around when it comes to its sports teams. They have been through the dog days, but it is finally starting to look up in one of the greatest sports cities in America.
Michiganders have seen it with the recent successes of the Lions, Red Wings, and even with the Tigers starting hot. All the city needs now is for the Pistons to start to have success again. Overall, I think it very safe to say that the city is buzzing right now and I would not be surprised if they were a hot topic coming into this next season.
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