2024 NFL draft: How Detroit's historic Corktown will fit into the festivities
Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press
Updated 12 min read
Deveri Gifford admits flat out that her vegan-friendly breakfast, brunch, and lunch spot at the east end of Detroit's Corktown is the furthest thing imaginable from a sports bar.
The black-and-white chalkboard on a morning in early March highlights cinnamon chai for $2.50 and a ginger rum hot toddy at the full-service bar for $11. Mini frosted cupcakes sit under a glass domed cake plate at one end of the three-seat bar.
And the dead giveaway that this is not a sports bar?
"We don't have TVs," said Gifford, 42, the co-owner of Brooklyn Street Local on Michigan Avenue at the corner of Brooklyn Street.
And yet, she was shocked to see Detroit Lions fans fill up her small neighborhood cafe on Sundays as many prepared to head to Ford Field, some 2 miles away, during the Detroit Lions' thrill-packed run into the playoffs last season. "It was great for us," Gifford said.
Brooklyn Street Local co-owners Deveri Gifford, left, and Jason Yates, both 42, of Detroit, inside their restaurant on Michigan near Trumbull on Thursday, March 7, 2024. The owners are hoping that the upcoming NFL draft happening in Detroit near the end of April helps bring more customers to them.
NFL draft means a boost to business but who benefits?
Like many small business owners in Detroit, Gifford remains hopeful that the NFL draft, which comes to Detroit April 25 through April 27, will boost the bottom line. She's planning on adding specials, such as chili cheese fries, chicken wings, maybe a Detroit Lions- or NFL- themed cupcake or cookie. Grab and go items will be available. And, definitely, she says, a football-themed cocktail.
The NFL draft in Detroit is charged with hope. Football fans eagerly watch the screen — and thousands even travel to host cities — as they root for the next young prospect to infuse talent into their favorite team. Picks aren't permanent, and can be quickly traded, generating even more anticipation during the draft.
After nearly 50 years of anchoring the draft in New York, the NFL began moving the draft among its team cities in 2015. The NFL draft heads to Green Bay in 2025. NFL cities that host the annual draft want to harness the economic energy that can be triggered by hundreds of thousands visiting football fans. Entry is free but food, beer and booze, and travel costs are not.
But it's a gamble when it comes to how much of that extra NFL draft spending will reach a specific business or go beyond the epicenter of the draft in downtown Detroit. Will neighborhoods and communities beyond the NFL draft footprint benefit? How much is too much for an individual restaurant or bar to stock up on when it comes to chicken wings, pizza, or beer? What kind of retailers will see a surge? And who won't?
A customer has a coffee and staff work on an order inside of Brooklyn Street Local in Detrroit on Michigan near Trumbull on Thursday, March 7, 2024. The owners are hoping that the upcoming NFL draft happening in Detroit near the end of April helps bring more customers to them.
Detroit takes center stage in NFL draft in April
Detroit is roughly five weeks away from the biggest annual offseason event that the NFL runs, an event that has never been held here. The hype, like most things with the NFL, is huge.
The record for attendance is more than 600,000 for the NFL draft held in 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. Overall, about 312,000 people attended the 2023 NFL draft in Kansas City, Missouri, and the event generated an estimated $164.3 million for Kansas City.
Detroit's attendance is expected to match or exceed that of Kansas City's.
Yet, it can be a gamble. What will the weather be like? How much will fans want to travel? And again, where will people who visit Detroit spend their money?
Some businesses in Kansas City dubbed last year's draft as a "big letdown," according to reports in the Kansas City Star, which highlighted complaints posted on social media about slower than normal traffic at some outlets.
But the complaints, Detroit observers say, generally arose from businesses that were farther away from the NFL footprint, held around the city's historic Union Station.
People leave after the third day of the NFL football draft, Saturday, April 29, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo.
The advantage for attendance in Detroit is that fans from six NFL cities have a fairly easy drive here, five hours away or less, said Chris Moyer, senior director of communications and public affairs at Visit Detroit, which works to promote metro Detroit as a convention, business meeting and tourism destination.
The cities are Chicago, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.
Moyer noted that other NFL towns are a drive of about 12 hours or less, including New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Green Bay, Nashville and Washington, D.C.
The NFL draft footprint in Detroit — the heart of which runs from Campus Martius to Hart Plaza — can hold only so many people and more room will be needed to handle the crowds and parking.
Official plans include handling overflow crowds and developing activities in several areas, including Beacon Park, Capitol Park, Grand Circus Park, Harmonie Park, and Corktown.
Detroit's Corktown, a trendy area filled with bars, breweries, and industrial buildings turned into lofts, was once home to the many Irish immigrants who poured in after 1830. A number of Irish immigrants arrived here after fleeing the Great Potato Famine in Ireland in the 1840s.
Historians note that Latino populations arriving from the Southwest and Mexico came to Corktown in the 1920s seeking work in Detroit's auto factories.
The area suffered in the 1960s but began seeing a pickup of activity in the early 2000s. And has since undergone a great resurgence especially since 2018 when Ford Motor Co. acquired Michigan Central Station, now the centerpiece of the automaker's future 30-acre mobility-focused campus.
The 15-story building, which closed in 1988 and ended up essentially abandoned for years, will reopen June 6. The train depot’s restoration is part of a commitment from Ford to establish the Michigan Central Innovation District, the first piece of which opened in April. According to a Michigan Economic Development Corp. announcement in 2022, Ford already had invested $740 million in the 30-acre campus in Corktown that is expected to hold 5,000 workers, with at least 2,500 of those jobs being non-Ford employees.
The much-anticipated date for the train station to reopen is June 6, more than 30 years after it closed. The 15-story Corktown fixture opened in 1913 and was originally built for office space, but fell into ruin after closing in 1988, becoming a symbol for the Detroit's decline.
Corktown is roughly 1 mile away, west down Michigan Avenue from Campus Martius, where much of the NFL draft activity will take place. A draft theater — where fans can watch eligible players pour — will be located at Randolph and Monroe streets in the Monroe Street Midway area near Greektown.
Some excitement — and some of the crowds — will be directed into Detroit's oldest neighborhood. Corktown events will include a youth hub, Eastern Market food trucks and a watch party from 8-10 p.m. on Thursday and 7-10 p.m. on Friday. Artisan tents are expected to pop up in the area featuring local small businesses and others.
"A lot of people know us, especially football fans," said Pat Osman, a manager at Nemo's, a popular Detroit sports bar that has been on Michigan Avenue since 1965.
Osman, who has been working at Nemo's for 25 years, expects the crowds in Corktown to be even bigger than when Detroit hosted Super Bowl XL in 2005 and "a lot of Lions fans were watching someone else play."
Sandy Simmons, another manager at Nemo's who has worked there more than 40 years, remembers the Super Bowl as one of the most fun weeks for Detroit, attracting people from everywhere.
Nemo's in 2020.
"And I'm just thinking this is going to be that on steroids," Simmons said.
The NFL has 32 teams that will participate in the draft, creating the potential to attract fans from long list of towns. Simmons attended a meeting regarding the draft in early March where panelists, including a representative from the NFL draft, discussed what to expect.
"One thing they told us at the meeting, they're like, 'Don't let up on Saturday,' thinking that people lose interest after the 45th pick or whatever it is," she said.
The peak of interest in the NFL draft is Thursday, but events and activities go into the weekend. On Saturday, a family-oriented flag football tournament will be held at The Corner Ballpark, Simmons said, generating what could be more than 2,000 visitors to Corktown.
Trae Issac created the mural "The Corktown Tribute" on the Godfrey Hotel in Detroit.
The new Godfrey Hotel, which opened in September is across the street from Nemo's and other businesses. Simmons said hotel guests are likely to stop by during the week for a drink or a Nemo's famous burger.
Corktown is used to big crowds for events, such as the 66th annual St. Patrick's Day parade that took place March 10. "You're packed for 14 hours straight," Simmons said.
"We have St. Patrick's Day this Sunday, which is on a lighter scale because you can go anywhere for St. Patrick's Day. But Parade Day is just in Corktown."
One retailer is a bigger fan of Taylor Swift than NFL draft
Not surprisingly, some retailers welcome the overall attention that Detroit will get in April but say they're not betting the NFL draft will boost their prospects.
Erin Gavle, 41, who owns the Eldorado General Store on Michigan Avenue in Corktown, is one retailer who admits she'd rather see Taylor Swift come back to town.
Her store sells vintage clothing, turquoise bracelets and earrings, silk scrunchies, moonstone rings, antiques, locally made and fair trade pieces, scented candles, and more.
Eldorado has been in business 10 years, and as her website says, "opening the year the city of Detroit announced bankruptcy."
Her business saw some of the worst Sundays in a decade when the Detroit Lions moved further into playoffs in January. Sales, she said, were "incredibly down; wildly, drastically different than for the last 10 years."
"Everyone was watching the game somewhere else," she said.
She is happy that other businesses, including restaurants in Corktown, will do well during the NFL draft. "We're always excited to show off our neighborhood, our town, our corner," Gavle told me.
She's skeptical about whether the NFL draft could ring up as many sales for her store as the two Taylor Swift concerts last summer.
Big tents, beer, and shuttles will be part of Corktown scene
Bob Roberts, co-owner of McShane's Irish Pub & Whiskey Bar, tells another part of the economic story ahead. Sure, he has vegan offerings at his establishment, too, like many trendy spots in metro Detroit.
But McShane's also has 25 TVs and a strong base of sports-oriented customers. More TVs will be outside in a tent during the NFL draft in Detroit. He senses the NFL draft will be three days of capacity crowds for McShane's.
Co-owner Bob Roberts, left, talks with Alberto Ruiz of Royal Oak at McShane's Irish Pub in Detroit on March. 10, 2024.
"I really think Corktown is positioned well," said Roberts, 54.
Detroit sports fans have long headed to Corktown to grab a burger and a beer, catch the game on TV, or catch a ride on a shuttle to a game be it the Red Wings, the Detroit Lions, or the Detroit Tigers. The old Tiger Stadium, which hosted its final game in 1999, was at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.
As part of the plans in Corktown, Roberts said, free shuttles will pick up guests from designated parking structures a bit away from the business corridor in Corktown, move people around Corktown to several venues within the business district, and take them to the entrance of the draft. Key streets are going to be blocked off at the epicenter of the draft.
People gather outside at McShane's Irish Pub in Detroit on March. 10, 2024.
Roberts said his NFL draft plan for McShane's includes ordering a "heck of a lot of beer" and cutting back on the number of items on the menu to keep things running smoothly in the kitchen and deal with the crowds. He expects to keep popular items such as burgers and the Irish Egg Rolls, wontons stuffed with braised cabbage, corned beef and baby Swiss cheese.
The NFL draft is expected to be the crown jewel of a very busy late winter and spring — the St. Patrick's Day parade in Corktown on March 10, followed by the NCAA March Madness men's basketball Midwest Regional games scheduled for March 29-31 at Little Caesars Arena, and the Detroit Tigers' Opening Day at Comerica Park on April 5.
On Opening Day, Roberts said, McShane's expects to be at capacity both inside and on the patio with its Tiki Bar. "We offer shuttle service, and I would expect to shuttle around 400 guests to the game," he said.
Yet, he estimated that the three-day NFL event combined could add up to a month's worth of business for McShane's in Detroit.
Roberts says the excitement of the NFL draft has been building over the years. "It's hope for your home team. You hope that they get a good prospect, and, obviously, someone who will make their team better."
Roberts watches the NFL draft every year. His brother and his family will be traveling about 23 miles from the Downriver community of Gibraltar to Detroit for NFL draft events. He knows of six customers who get together every weekend at the McShane's in Ypsilanti who will be heading to the draft in Detroit too.
Roberts has never attended the draft and won't heading to the draft in Detroit, as much as he might like. "I'm not going to make it to this one either. I will be too busy working."
