Detroit sets all-time NFL draft record with 275,000 fans in attendance on first night

The massive crowd that crammed downtown Detroit around Campus Martius for the NFL draft Thursday — an NFL record — drew amazed commentary from seasoned NFL commentators and officials.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on ESPN shortly after 7 p.m. that the huge turnout was a testament to area fans and what a great football city Detroit is.

"I heard there's close to 150,000 (people) already outside, waiting to get in," Goodell said shortly after 7 p.m., not long after officials announced the venue was at capacity and began turning people away.

Goodell later pegged the total attendance at 275,000, which he said was an NFL record.

Ian Rapoport, a sportswriter for the NFL Network and nfl.com, said on X that "the scene in Detroit is insanity." Rapoport said he thought the crowd size rivaled the one in Nashville, Tenn., which in 2019 hosted the last NFL draft before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The NFL used its X feed to show a drone video of the massive gathering, with the words: This is wild."

The massive crowd was not without problems as many attendees experienced trouble getting food or just getting where they wanted to go.

"This is turning into a dangerous situation on Congress and Woodward," Detroit Axios reporter Sam Robinson said on X at around 7 p.m.

"Detroit police officers are asking people to back up. It’s not happening."

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 275,000 fans swarm Detroit for NFL draft, setting a record