-
Eric Woodyard, ESPN
DETROIT — During an historic week in Detroit, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer broke some news ahead of the Lions’ fourth-round selection on Saturday.
Whitmer announced that the 2024 NFL Draft broke the all-time attendance record with 700,000 fans and counting. In 2019, Nashville set the previous record after drawing 600,000 fans over a three-day span.
“We have shown the world what the Motor City is about,” Whitmer said.
Detroit had never hosted a draft prior to this year and previously hosted the Super Bowl XL in 2006. On Thursday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that Detroit also set the Day 1 record with more than 275,000 fans in attendance and drew 550,000 in two days before hitting the all-time mark on Saturday.
To help kick off the festivities on Day 1, Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown joined rap legend Eminem, Calvin Johnson, Barry Sanders, Jared Goff, Aidan Hutchinson and Goodell on the draft stage in downtown Detroit. St. Brown said he’d never seen “that many people in my life.”
“I play football games. I’ve been in front of 100,000 people, whatever, 90,000. But, there was like, I was telling someone earlier, ‘It’s like I was Travis Scott concert,'” St. Brown said. “I was looking up to look away. It was crazy. But there were so many people. It was awesome to see the fans, the city all coming together.
“I just feel like everything’s happening all at once at the right time for this city, for the fans. It’s just, amazing to be a part of it.”