NFL, city planners offer first look at next month's draft in Detroit, footprint, activities

Detroit — With this spring's NFL Draft just weeks away, city planners and league officials on Tuesday gave their first detailed glimpse of some of the activities that will be held and how they're preparing, predicting Detroit will beat Kansas City in attendance.

Presenting their plans Tuesday to the Detroit City Council, officials provided a look at the three-day schedule that starts April 25 and will include interactive games while highlighting small businesses and Detroit culture. They shared blueprints for downtown, outlined security measures and detailed how they even plan to break a world record for the largest Hustle line dance down Woodward Avenue as the show finale.

"We will bring the city to life through static decor design, through lighting, through wraps, we start to show the draft through a lot of imagery that you'll start to see happening very soon," said Jon Barker, NFL's vice president event production and operations.

The draft runs from April 25-27 around Campus Martius park, where the stage will be stationed near the Monroe Street Midway and toward Hart Plaza, where there will be family-friendly festivities and photo opportunities with the Lombardi Trophy. There are plans for a red carpet of events at the Fox Theater and children's athletic events in Corktown at Corner Ballpark.

Barker said the free event will bring all 32 teams together to celebrate the beginning of a new season while leaving a lasting impact and showcasing Detroit. In less than 51 days, 1,800 members of the media will be in the city and millions will tune in globally.

"Last year, across three days, 54 million people tuned in to more than 90 hours of television content across the NFL Network, ABC and ESPN," he said.

Last year, 312,000 people attended the draft in Kansas City, "and for everything that we have been told by everyone that lives in Detroit, Detroit will beat Kansas City when it comes to attendance." The record for NFL Draft attendance is 600,000 reached in Tennessee in 2019.

Last year, the economic impact was $109 million spent by fans during the draft in Kansas City. The total budget cost of the NFL Draft is $25 million, Barker said. An economic study on Detroit will be conducted after.

Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit, believes next month's draft "will be the largest and most inclusive sporting event the city of Detroit has ever hosted."

"While the draft footprint is downtown to Hart Plaza, this isn't downtown's draft, this is Detroit's draft," he said.

But some councilmembers voiced worries about unpredictable weather, the need for additional security and deterring large parties at venues that can't accommodate them.

Schedule, set up begins in 25 days

Crews will begin loading in and building theater structures for the draft on March 30. They will move into Cadillac Square and Campus Martius park on April 8. Hart Plaza construction begins April 15. Red carpet rollouts will be April 20.

Downtown Woodward Avenue will be closed off by April 22. There will be an overnight bomb sweep with canines and a security perimeter will be in place April 23. A full perimeter lockdown will be in place April 24-27.

Gates open at noon April 25 with interactive football-themed games and experiences. Round one commences at 8 p.m. at the draft theater at Campus Martius. The draft will close at 11 p.m.

Rounds two and three have a similar setup on Friday, opening at noon and selections at 7 p.m.

Rounds four through seven start earlier on Saturday. Gates open at 9 a.m. and selections start at noon and close at 7 p.m. Each day has a pre-draft shows that were not disclosed.

There will be three main entries on Jefferson East; Griswold and Jefferson; and Cadillac Square East.

In the middle of the walkway on Woodward Avenue, there will be two local business access portals to make it easy for fans to leave the experience to visit corridor businesses, grab a bite to eat and return through security screening.

The city also is adding additional capacity in downtown Detroit parks and public spaces such as Beacon and Capitol Park with large LED screens, food trucks and vendor opportunities.

Security, dogs bring brought in

Lenny Bandy, vice president of NFL security services who is a Detroit native, said he’s personally invested in the success of this draft.

"We are committed that the city has to ensure that this event is not only memorable from a fan perspective, but it is a safe venue and that is my responsibility," Bandy told the council. "We will be guided by the City of Detroit Police Department, their instruction, and their recommendations for our protocol."

Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison said the Detroit Police Department has the muscle memory and blueprints from hosting the Super Bowl in 2006.

"We are working with federal agencies and have help from the state with various resources," Bettison said. "All hands are on deck."

Additional canines will be provided to help with security measures, he said.

"Detroit police does not have the amount of dogs to cover that but we are getting assistance from the MSP, FBI, ATF and all those resources are coming to the city of Detroit to secure this large scale event at no cost to the city," Bettison said.

District 6 Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero questioned what the strategy is to combat a spike in human trafficking, which often occurs during national events.

Bettison also said the city's public safety officials, along with the U.S. Attorney's Office will be hosting seminars at various hotels for staff to identify signs of human trafficking.

Public commenters questioned how transit will be improved during the draft. Parking and bike stationing will be difficult, city officials noted.

Diverse businesses highlighted

Planners said they're curating lists of businesses for stars to privately host parties, a VIP event of 800 attendees called "Draft Eve," guides to local businesses and venues including outside the downtown area.

There will be curated concession stands showcasing a diversity of vendors, including Black, Hispanic, Arab, LGBTQ and women-owned businesses, officials said.

"We can't feed everybody downtown with more than 300,000 people here," said Kai Bowman, chief operating officer of the Metro Detroit Black Business Alliance, who is assisting in curating the guides. "The guides also include outside of downtown businesses."

The NFL Draft has a Black-owned Detroit catering and laundry service that will provide for all staff on-site.

"It was my personal goal to ensure the makeup of vendors represented the city," Bowman said. "It's no surprise that we're an 80% Black city and I think we've done that."

Bowman mourned Chef Maxcel Hardy, who died Monday, and was a highlighted business working with the draft. He said they will have something "in remembrance of his selflessness to the community."

srahal@detroitnews.com

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