275,000 showed up for the draft (and the real number might have been a lot higher)
Maybe they should change the title of the classic KISS song to Detroit Draft City.
Via the Detroit News, the NFL's official attendance number for last night's festivities was 275,000. Police officials, however, estimated that 400,000 showed up.
It underscores the raw power of taking the draft on the road, something that happened basically by accident in 2015. Radio City Music Hall was booked for the weekend the NFL wanted to do the draft, so the league went to Chicago and that, as they say, was that.
The official number shatters the prior single-day record of 200,000 in Nashville. And it means that the draft will continue to be a traveling, open-air roadshow — with every NFL city likely getting its chance to host the league's No. 1 offseason tentpole event.
The crowd noticeably thinned as the night lingered. It apparently was cold. It will be interesting to see how many fans show up tonight and tomorrow, as the event loses its natural opening-night luster.
