The inside story: Everything Detroit did to prepare for the NFL Draft

Detroit — As Detroit's NFL Draft countdown clock reaches the end, there's intense anticipation, a hustle of preparation and an exciting vibe moving throughout downtown ahead of Thursday's kickoff.

The NFL has only taken the draft showcase on the road a handful of times, and Detroit's will be its 89th festival to select newly eligible players. Detroit's experience is also expected to bring hundreds of thousands of fans as the city is centrally located between several of the league's 32 major teams.

"The NFL Draft will be a moment Detroiters remember for years to come," Mayor Mike Duggan told The Detroit News. "I had a chance to tour the Draft Theater and event footprint, and it's spectacular. Everyone in Detroit owes an enormous thanks to the hundreds of people who have spent the last two years planning every detail of this event."

The three-day free event required years of planning, tens of millions spent by the NFL, along with an unknown amount from private partnerships. Detroit officials contend they spent $230,000 in city funds on murals; they spent another $1.53 million on improvements to streets, traffic signal improvements, tree planting and sprucing up medians in the city, but officials say a state grant covered those costs.

The NFL predicts around 300,000 will attend the event, which is in line with numbers for last year’s draft. Depending on weather conditions, attendance could possibly approach the record of 600,000 in Nashville, Tenn., in 2019.

The economic impact is expected to top $160 million, according to a new analysis from the East Lansing-based economic consulting firm Anderson Economic Group LLC. 

With so much at stake, city officials and planners said they are sparing no effort on infrastructure upgrades, beautification and neighborhood outreach to lure all residents to a sparkling downtown for the NFL Draft.

“Success in hosting major events is a lot like success on the football field; it takes a complete team effort," said Christopher Moyer, spokesman for Visit Detroit. "The draft will be the largest and most inclusive sporting event Michigan has ever hosted, and we can’t wait for the festivities to begin."

While the city has gone through a dramatic transformation since it hosted Super Bowl XL in 2006, there are some similarities in preparation. At the time, a $14 million blue six-lane Gateway Bridge shaped with footballs was permanently constructed above Telegraph and Interstate 94 for travelers coming from the airport.

This year, the city commemorated the NFL Draft with a Gateway "D-E-T-R-O-I-T" sign on I-94 between Central and Cecil avenues that stirred controversy after an AI rendering took social media by storm and set expectations too high, Duggan said. The sign, which illuminates at night, cost nearly $300,000 but still didn't impress some, like topical rapper Gmac Cash who released two songs about it this month.

Residents may have noticed more detours and construction building up this week, but few may realize it took years to plan the event. Detroit learned two years ago it would host the 2024 NFL Draft, three years after it submitted its bid to the league, said David Cowan, the chief spaces officer for the Downtown Detroit Partnership.

The city has partnered with the state, entities like Visit Detroit and Downtown Detroit Partnership and several private sector companies to raise $10 million to make the NFL Draft free to attend for all visitors downtown.

To gear up, the city's public works department and the Downtown Detroit Partnership repaired sidewalks, paved streets, upgraded traffic lights and painted 600 flag poles and electrical boxes. Campus Martius' free Wi-Fi bandwidth has been boosted, and several downtown businesses are expanding in preparation for the influx of visitors.

The draft runs Thursday through Saturday around Campus Martius Park, where the made-for-television stage has been built out and stationed near the Monroe Street Midway. The footprint stretches from Ford Field to Hart Plaza, where family-friendly festivities and photo opportunities with the Lombardi Trophy are expected to be held.

Duggan has focused most of his time touting the draft as an opportunity to "reintroduce Detroit to America." Building off the Lions' success during last season's playoffs, he said the city is ready to show how dramatically it has changed since 2006 — and a decade after its historic bankruptcy.

"Of course, this is not just about three days in April," Moyer said. "The success of this event will help accelerate Detroit and Michigan’s growth for the next 30 years. Success this week will help us attract more visitors, events, and billions of dollars in investment.”

Homicides and unemployment are down, once-vacant hotels have come back to life, and downtown is filled with stores and trendy restaurants. Detroit's national image two decades ago as a city of "ruin porn" has been replaced by footage of a gleaming skyline, Duggan said earlier this month. He moved his 11th State of the City speech to highlight a robust effort in preparation for the draft.

"Instead of blight, they can visit beauty," he said during his speech.

Beautification, murals

Along the freeways, the city planted hundreds of trees and shrubs, and its demolition department has ramped up efforts to remove blight and increased its trash removal services. Belle Isle held a volunteer day cleanup event on Saturday.

The city has also upgraded 30 privately owned parking lots and provided grants to parking lot owners "so those ugly yellow chains won't be across their lots but rather aesthetically beautiful fencing," Duggan said.

In addition to new signage on the freeway, smaller pathway signs have been placed throughout downtown instructing residents how to get around to popular spots. There's also new wrapping on the QLine and People Mover welcoming the NFL Draft.

Through the City Walls program, Detroit has contracted artists to paint murals at five People Mover stations that will showcase Detroit's sports history, including championship moments from the Tigers, Red Wings and Pistons. It also commissioned local artists and charities on "DCLEATED," 20 fabricated colossal football cleats that have been painted by local artists and scattered around downtown and will be auctioned off for charity.

The city also contracted six murals to be painted on downtown buildings, but the City Council refused to pay for them, citing the work had been done without their approval.

In the heart of downtown, meanwhile, a large sign of Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson will welcome visitors looking up toward the side of Cadillac Tower reading, "Dreams get made here," in the same spot where a storied mural of Lions running back Barry Sanders once stood.

How much has been spent so far

City officials say it's hard to quantify how much they've spent preparing for the draft.

Of the city's estimated $1.76 million draft bill, $230,000 was spent on the City Wall projects including murals and art installations, like the giant cleat project and painting electrical boxes to represent historic city athletes. Another $3,000 was spent on hosting business certification fairs for minority and women-based businesses, where more than 300 small businesses became certified to work as vendors during the event.

Another $1.53 million was spent on traffic signal improvements, tree planting and sprucing up medians in the city, but those funds came from the city's street fund, which comes from state grant money from the state's gas tax revenue.

The city made other improvements over the last year but said it doesn't consider them to be "draft improvements," including renovations to Hart Plaza, $5 million for the Dodge Fountain restoration, $425,000 for six Welcome to Detroit signs, and freeway cleanup.

The city also said it relied on the private partnerships, which assisted in applying for the draft to be held in Detroit, to cover some improvement costs as part of preparations.

Eric Larson, CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, said they have raised $2 million spent on hosting Draft Day in the D, including watch parties at the four nearby parks and on Woodward activations, without more specifics. "Other investments made were part of DDP’s general operating budget that Downtown will benefit long after Draft weekend, such as infrastructure and public space improvements,” Larson said.

Security

Detroit Police Chief James White has said that not a single officer of the department's 2,500 will have a day off during the three-day event. According to White, "a lot" of police overtime is expected, which was allocated for in Detroit's fiscal budget through last year's surpluses.

Expect to see — and not see — a heavy police presence downtown during the draft, a gun-free, smoke-free and weapon-free event. There is also a clear bag policy. Only strollers, small cameras, binoculars and empty, reusable water bottles will be permitted. There's free water filling inside the event.

More than 770 banners create the perimeter for the draft footprint stretching from Ford Field to Hart Plaza.

Police will monitor live video feeds from cameras throughout downtown, including footage from properties owned by Ilitch Holdings and Rocket Mortgage and its family of companies that have offices encircling Campus Martius, White said.

This year's draft strategy will employ "Casper Units" — undercover cops in crowds — and more "eyes in the sky," with helicopter patrols and officers on rooftops. DPD will also be assisted by dozens of deputies from the Wayne County Sheriff and other nearby agencies. K-9 teams are also being flown in from across the country.

The department owns about a dozen Evolv weapon detection monitors and has borrowed 50 additional detectors to use throughout downtown.

In addition to watching for problems that might erupt downtown during the draft, authorities are monitoring for crimes including human trafficking, even through social media posts.

To ensure there are enough officers to patrol the city's neighborhoods, White said last week, "every single officer will be working those three days; we call it a restricted day. We still have neighborhood policing to do."

More than 140 volunteers will be assisting police in responding to immediate medical situations. The Detroit Medical Center is this year's medical provider for the NFL Draft.

Activating the neighborhoods

There have been changes to local transportation services, road closures, and the city has had to spend efforts educating residents about changes underway.

Duggan has declared Thursday “Honolulu Blue Day” to kick off the draft to ensure people watching from afar know the city's pride in the Detroit Lions, he said.

The city also held its "On the Clock" tour, a pre-draft activation, with 11 events in Detroit neighborhoods. They're working with the Lions and Detroit Public Schools Community District for the draft fests, which will feature Visit Detroit's mobile visitor center, the D-Rover, which has been temporarily rebranded as the Draft Rover.

Detroit needs to execute the draft perfectly, Duggan said, to ensure the city has future national event opportunities.

"The only thing we can't control is the weather," he said. "And then, the only thing we need is a hotel attached to a convention center. That's in the process right now with the Water Square Hotel. If we can put those together, Detroit could see an economic boom for years."

srahal@detroitnews.com