City announces neighborhood events for draft
Countdown for NFL’s April festivities to start next month
Events for the 2024 NFL draft will start popping up around the city as Detroit prepares to host the event for the first time.
Visit Detroit and the City of Detroit announced the "On the Clock Tour" — a new series of events across Detroit neighborhoods in the lead-up to the 2024 NFL draft, hosted downtown April 25-27. The "On the Clock Tour" will host seven free events including city residents in different areas, beginning in January and continuing through the second week of April.
“When the 2024 NFL Draft was awarded to Detroit in 2022, our first priority was to ensure that all residents of the City of Detroit would have the opportunity to experience the excitement of the NFL Draft in their own neighborhoods and in our downtown,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in a released statement. “The 'On The Clock Tour' will deliver on that promise and bring the fun and spectacle of the NFL Draft to our communities for everyone to enjoy.”
The first stop on the On the Clock Tour will be at the Kemeny Recreation Center, at 2260 S. Fort St., on Jan. 13. "Winterfest" will feature "traditional winter events," food trucks, arcade-style games, an appearance from the Lions' mascot, Roary, and football-themed stations such as a 40-yard dash and attempting a field goal.
Each event on the tour will also feature the Visit Detroit mobile visitor center, the D-Rover, which is a multipurpose transit van used to promote events in the tri-county area. The van
will feature a 2024 NFL draft design, multiple 43-inch TVs, and a plug-in mic for messaging during the event.
“Visit Detroit is proud to partner with Mayor Mike Duggan and the City of Detroit as we countdown to the 2024 NFL Draft,” Claude Molinari, Visit Detroit president and CEO, said in a statement. “This is an exciting moment for our city, and we believe that the 'On the Clock Tour' will allow all Detroiters to be a part of the experience and bring the Draft to their community.”
The neighborhood events build on the already-announced events surrounding the draft. During the draft from April 25-27, Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza will be hosting the "NFL Draft Experience" — a free interactive football theme park sponsored by the NFL.
The tour is among several events promised by the Detroit Sports Commission and the city when talking about the details of the 2024 draft in a news conference in November. Visit Detroit and the Detroit Sports Commission are raising
$10 million among various partners for the event and the NFL will pump "five to seven times" that amount into the draft for production needs, according to Molinari. The two groups will also use the draft money to donate $1 million to Detroit-based charities.
The city is expecting hundreds of thousands of people to travel to Detroit in April for the draft, and Duggan said the economic impact of the event could rival the Super Bowl Detroit hosted in 2006.