The NFL Draft was such a success in Detroit that it will almost surely be back. The three-day event shattered attendance records, went off without a hitch and "built a lot of momentum in our community and elevated the profile of our city," David Beachnau, the director of the Detroit Sports Commission, said Monday on 97.1 The Ticket.
Not only did it draw a record-setting 775,000 fans downtown, but "54 million eyeballs on the (TV) broadcast," said Beachnau. "It helps shape the narrative of what we’re selling in Detroit, and that’s so critical."
Asked what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell might say to hosting another draft in Detroit, Beachnau said, "That’s already been mentioned. And it’s not out of the realm of possibility."
The next two NFL Drafts will be held in Green Bay and Pittsburgh, with 2027 yet to be awarded. City organizers around the country took notice of how Detroit rose to the occasion this year. Beachnau said that "over a half-dozen cities have already asked to schedule calls with us to talk about what it takes to stage a draft."
"They’re not going to do the 775,000, I can guarantee that. We don’t want to give away the secret sauce necessarily, but we’re in it to be helpful because it’s a small-knit community and friendly competition with our counterparts around the country. But yeah, I think the draft is in the future," he said.
And that's not it. Beachnau said Detroit is "in the hunt for a lot of things", including another round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 2028 after it hosts the Final Four in 2027. It hosted opening weekend games in 2018 and Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games this year at Little Caesars Arena. Detroit is also eyeing the Big Ten championship game in football, which is typically held in Indianapolis, and the Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, Beachnau said.
"This is what we do every day. We’re out chasing events and building strategy for what fits in our market," he said. "We hope to break some news soon in a lot of regards."
The next big announcement could concern the NBA All-Star Game, which is "certainly on the horizon, we believe, in '28, ’29, ’30, something like that. I know the Pistons are poised, I think the city is poised to go after that and secure it," Beachnau said. The next three NBA All-Star Games will be held in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, with 2028 still on the table.
As for the NHL All-Star Game, which isn't on the calendar next year and will be on Long Island in 2026, "That’s certainly in the mix," said Beachnau. "I think that’s a few years down the road, but some other things are in discussion right now."
Detroit last hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 1979 when it was held at the Pontiac Silverdome and the NHL All-Star Game in 1980 at Joe Louis Arena, which had opened that season. The Pistons and Red Wings moved to Little Caesars Arena in 2017, but limited hotel capacity downtown has been the main factor in keeping the All-Star Games from returning. That looks to be changing, with a major hotel going up at the old site of The Joe and another set to open at the new Hudson Site.
Downtown Detroit has come a long way since hosting the Super Bowl in 2006 when "we were painting facades on vacant storefronts on Woodward Avenue," said Beachnau. "Now you look at the vibrancy and all the retail that’s there. Hotel capacity has increased dramatically since then, which is critical to the success in landing these events."
As for bringing the Super Bowl back to Detroit, Beachnau said that "for me and for a lot of us, the draft was our Super Bowl."
"That was the NFL’s intention when they started to move the draft around, was to give those cities that aren’t necessarily Super Bowl cities the opportunity to host one of their tentpole events," he said. "If you look at where they’ve been and where they’re going, I think it’s as good, if not better, for us than a Super Bowl.
"It goes back to the cost of hosting a Super Bowl. We had to raise money to host the draft. Multiple that by five or six times to host a Super Bowl. Again, we’re comfortable in our own skin. We know what we are as a city."