Detroit sets NFL Draft attendance record with 275,000 people on first night

DETROIT — Detroit showed out for the first round of the NFL Draft. In a big way.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday night the city set the all-time Day One record with more than 275,000 fans in attendance.

The previous record for first-round attendance was an estimated 200,000 in Nashville in 2019. Many believe Detroit is on-pace to break the three-day draft record of 600,000, also set in Nashville.

Though NFL officials have pegged Thursday’s attendance at 275,000 people within the Draft Experience, Detroit police officials estimate as many as 400,000 people or more had come downtown for draft festivities, according to The Detroit News.

Officials began turning people away from the NFL Draft Experience — the contained fan zone spanning from Cadillac Square and Campus Martius Park to Hart Plaza — around 6:30 p.m., more than an hour before the draft officially began.