The NFL draft has a new attendance record after more than 700,000 fans flooded downtown Detroit for the three-day event.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer broke 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 have shown the world what the Motor City is all about.”
While it will take years to know if this week’s picks delivered, there’s no doubt that Detroit made the most of an opportunity to host hundreds of thousands of fans and show 50-plus million viewers the new-look 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, though the visitors and area residents were expected to generate more than $160m in economic impact at sold-out hotels, packed bars and restaurants, as well as retail stores in the heart of downtown.
Former Lions running back Billy Sims was enjoying brisk sales of barbecue from his restaurant under a tent on a sidewalk along Woodward Avenue on Saturday.