DETROIT (WWJ) – We've still got a little more than two years until the NFL Draft descends on downtown Detroit, but there's a big party this week to celebrate the league's announcement that the 2024 NFL Draft is coming to the city.
The party is set for 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Campus Martius Park, as officials with the NFL and Detroit Sports Commission begin the hype train for the event in two years.
Commissioner Roger Goodell is scheduled to attend Thursday's free event, which will feature music, games and other family-friendly entertainment.
Officials say local youth football players will unveil a "very special, iconic piece of art" that will be on display at Campus Martius from Thursday all the way through the conclusion of the draft in 2024.
More details on the event can be found on the Detroit Sports Commission website.
The league announced in late March that the 2024 draft would be held in Detroit, with Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza serving as the focal points of the event.
The draft had been held in New York City for 50 years, until 2015, when the league switched to holding it in a different city every year.
Since that move, the draft has become a must-attend event for fans every year.
The 2019 NFL Draft drew massive crowds to Broadway in downtown Nashville, and will head to Las Vegas later this month, where the draft was supposed to be held in 2020 before the pandemic forced the event to go virtual.
The Nashville draft generated an estimated $225 million in economic impact and last year's event in Cleveland drew 160,000 spectators.
Officials are hoping to see that same type of impact and similar crowds come out to the event in a revitalized downtown Detroit. Former Michigan State University Athletic Director and current chair of the Detroit Sports Commission's Sports Organizing Corp., says it's a major opportunity for the city.
"To think about all that this city has to offer and how does a gathering like this really feed out into the culture of Detroit and allow the world to see it because we're all very proud of what this is," Hollis told WWJ.
Hollis called the event a "really big deal" for the city.
"It has an opportunity to bring global eyes into the city that we're all so proud of," he said.
