‘Historic Week’: Detroit Motors Past Nashville For NFL Draft Attendance Mark
Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 07:28PM By Barry Janoff
April 27, 2024: With the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears selected Caleb Willams, quarterback from USC.
That move on April 25 not only translated into a franchise-changer for the Bears, but set the pace for the overall Draft itself, which set NFL Draft attendance marks and generated big TV numbers for the NFL.
The NFL said that on Thursday night, more than 275,000 fans attended Round 1 in Detroit, breaking the all-time Day One Draft record of 200,000 set by Nashville in 2019.
Today, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the NFL Draft set a new attendance record with more than 700,000 attending the three-day event in downtown Detroit.
That topped the previous three-day NFL Draft attendance record of 600,000 set in 2019 in Nashville.
"It has been a historic week in the great city of Detroit," Whitmer told the crowd at Campus Martius Park during the final day of the Draft.
"We have shown the world what the Motor City is all about. It is my honor to announce that the 2024 NFL Draft has now broken the all-time record! 700,000 and counting. So, thank-you NFL fans and thank-you Detroit."
The NFL said Round 1 coverage of the 2024 the NFL Draft presented by Bud Light in Detroit was seen by an average audience of 12.1 million viewers (TV+Digital) across ESPN, NFL Network, ABC, ESPN Deportes and digital channels — up +6% versus Round 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft (11.4 million) and the highest Round 1 viewership since 2021.
Coverage of Round 1 had a total unduplicated audience of 34.3 million viewers — the highest since 2021.
All seven rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft were presented across ABC, ESPN and NFL Network — the sixth straight year that The Walt Disney Company worked with the NFL to offer a multi-network presentation of the Draft.
“The bidding process for this, actually, there’s almost as much demand for the Draft as there is for the Super Bowl,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told ESPN on Friday.
“Because so many cities can’t host the Super Bowl, but they can do the Draft. It’s getting to the point now where the Draft, it’s not in the same league, but it’s pretty darn close.”
Since 2015, when the league moved the Draft out of New York — where it had been held from 1965-2014 — it has been staged in Chicago (2015-16), Philadelphia (2017), Arlington (AT&T Stadium, 2018), Nashville (2019), virtually in 2020 due to COVID-19, Cleveland (2021), Las Vegas (2022) and Kansas City, MO (2023).
The 2025 NFL Draft is scheduled for Green Bay.
Not surprisingly, NFL partners and local brands shared in the Detroit turnout.
Based on recent NFL Drafts, analysts are predicting a $150-200 million-plus economic impact for Detroit.
The 2023 Draft in Kansas City had a $164 million economic impact, the 2022 Draft in Las Vegas had a $235 million impact, and the 2019 Draft in Nashville had a $224 million impact, per the NFL and local sources.
Organizing committees said the Draft in Detroit could be at the higher end “because it is easier for fans to get to Detroit” than recent host locations from such NFL cities as Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Buffalo.
On April 25, attending prospects walked the NFL Draft Red Carpet presented by Toyota at the Fox Theater, with portions televised as part of NFL Network's NFL Draft Kickoff show.
“It is just one more chapter in the story that we continue to tell the world about what’s happening in Michigan, what's going on here in the city of Detroit.”
The NFL Draft Experience presented by Rocket Mortgage fan festival was free and open to the public from April 25-27.
Each day, the NFL Draft Concert Series was presented by Bud Light.
NFL Draft Detroit local corporate sponsors included Rocket Companies, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Flagstar Bank, General Motors, Huntington National Bank, Penske Corp. and PNC Bank.
According to ESPN, after the Bears selected Williams, his merchandise on Fanatics, including jerseys and other apparel, set the record for draft night sales value in any sport.
Williams switched from his jersey number at USC (13) to No. 18 with the Bears, the team said Thursday night.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 15, had broken the existing record ten days earlier when her No. 22 jersey sold out in a few hours.
"I'm really excited about this week here in Detroit,” Whitmer said during a panel, “Motor City Momentum: Draft Day Economics,” held the day before the Draft. The panel also included NFL vp-club business Peter O'Reilly, Visit Detroit vp Claude Molinari and Detroit city council member Fred Durhall III.
“It is just one more chapter in the story that we continue to tell the world about what’s happening in Michigan, what's going on here in the city of Detroit.”
According to Whitmer, “I think the exciting thing about hosting the NFL, and the Lions in particular, is they really are emblematic of who we are. We’ve been knocked down, but we get back up. And we get back up stronger than ever."
NFL Draft Detroit: $200M Economic Impact, 400K Visitors
Back to Home Page