As the NFL Playoffs begin this weekend, the Lions will be enjoying a much-needed and hard-earned bye week after beating the Vikings 31-9 Sunday night to earn the franchise’s first-ever No. 1 seed despite a season-long rash of injuries.
But then it’s back to work at Ford Field, which has become something of a fortress the last few seasons. The Lions are 19-5 at home since the start of the mid-season turnaround in 2022 that launched the team to new heights.
Lions fans — who set a Ford Field decibel-level record during last year’s Wild Card game at 133.6 (louder than a jet during takeoff) — have been nothing short of rabid during this renaissance and the atmosphere inside Detroit’s home stadium has received high praise.
That’s in part thanks to PixMob, a Canadian company that creates those light-up LED wristbands you see used during pregame introductions and throughout the game.
With lights darkened and fans roaring, PixMob syncs up thousands of flashing lights to add a little extra excitement to the pregame intros. That was on full display as linebacker Alex Anzalone stormed out onto the field Sunday night for the first time since being injured in Week 11.
The flashing wristbands are also on display throughout the game during pauses in action and any time the crowd gets extra fired up. The wristbands were also involved in Sunday night’s halftime performance by Grosse Pointe native and singer Quinn XCII.
The wristbands — which are now being used increasingly at concerts and other events across the world — made their Ford Field Debut on Monday Night Football last season against the Raiders. PixMob’s Jeremy Carrier told WWJ Newsradio 950’s Jeremy Otto ahead of Sunday night’s game they were immediately a big hit with the fans.
“We tried once, and it turns out fans loved it, so we did a second one and another one and now they were just doing it so much, they were like, 'well, we have to keep doing it,'” Carrier said.
On game days, Carrier and a coworker are behind a production board upstairs, following the action and in particular, keeping an eye on what gets the crowd fired up. Meanwhile, PixMob hires local workers to make sure there's a wristband on every seat, Carrier said.
As for planning, Carrier said PixMob meets with the game presentation team prior to games to get an idea of what they'll do with hopes that the team will be playing well enough to keep lighting up the wristbands throughout the game.
"One of the things we try to do... you, know these things have a battery life and I try to, as much as I can, run it down," Carrier said.
The PixMob wristbands have certainly brought a little extra flair to the atmosphere at Ford Field, which will play host to the Lions’ Divisional Round game on either Saturday, Jan. 18 or Sunday, Jan. 19. Should Detroit win that game, the team would host the NFC Championship for the first time ever on Sunday, Jan. 26.