How 775,000 people moved into, within downtown during the NFL draft in Detroit
As one of the NFL's most anticipated annual events, it's no shocker that the 2024 NFL draft would draw people from every corner of the country into Detroit, especially after such a great season by the Detroit Lions.
But the record-breaking crowd of 775,000 people — bigger than the populations of Seattle, Washington and Frankfurt, Germany — that descended upon the city over the weekend is what really brought the NFL draft in Detroit to the next jaw-dropping, mind-boggling level.
The draft turned downtown Detroit into a buzzing beehive, with people zipping back and forth to participate in the numerous draft activities, taste a classic coney dog, catch a glimpse of their new favorite sports star, and generally take advantage of everything that the city and its football festivities had to offer.
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Throughout the three days, SMART park-and-ride shuttles ushered 29,000 people into the city from scattered metro Detroit locations, while the D2A2 bus between Detroit and Ann Arbor moved 2,169 draft-goers.
Detroit Air Xpress, a new bus service that transports visitors straight from Detroit Metro Airport to downtown along Washington Boulevard, had almost 1,000 riders for the draft.
"We are pleased to report that during the NFL draft weekend, 996 travelers used the Detroit Air Xpress (DAX) pilot to travel between Downtown Detroit and the DTW airport," said Ben Stupka, Executive Director of the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan. "This is a remarkable accomplishment considering the pilot route was launched in late March — just one month before the draft."
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Fan shuttles helped to bring approximately 18,000 people from nearby parking locations into the draft space, and while Lyft representatives didn't provide a precise number, the rideshare service shared it experienced an 85% increase in the downtown area from Thursday to Saturday.
Within the downtown area, the Detroit People Mover and the QLINE transported a combined 137,588 people — 69,211 and 68,377, respectively.
Others chose to bike, renting out 1,577 rides from MoGo's bike rental service, but more people chose to scooter, breaking Lime Scooter's single-day ridership record in Detroit with 6,033 rides on Thursday.
With big turnout comes big appetites. Lafayette Coney Island in Detroit told WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) that it sold about 10,000 hot dogs over the three days, where it usually sells 1,500-1,600 a day. The downtown location for Buddy's Pizza said they sold 16,000 slices of Detroit-style pizza, more than twice what they sell in a normal weekend.
And inarguably, more than 1.5 million feet stepped onto the city streets, making NFL and Detroit history.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How 775,000 people moved across Detroit during the NFL draft
