2024 NFL Draft in Detroit up next after Super Bowl, as all eyes turn to Motor City

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Super Bowl LVIII festivities are in high gear, but once the curtain falls on another season, the focus turns to Detroit and the 2024 NFL Draft, which is less than 80 days away.

"My heart is racing right now. April 25th is in our sights," said Dave Beachnau. "Planning will amplify here very quickly, but we’ve got a good plan in place."

Beachnau is part of a committee from Detroit in Las Vegas this week to plan one of the NFL's biggest shows of the year. He is also the executive director of the Detroit Sports Commission.

In recent months, we’ve seen his organization work with the mayor’s office, Downtown Detroit Partnership, Detroit police, and the Lions to plan — for what Beachnau calls — 'a mini Super Bowl."

Later this week, the planning committee will get its first look at renderings of the draft’s layout which will stretch from Campus Martius park to Hart Plaza.

"When you think about the draft main stage theater, that’s going to be built around Campus Martius Park, there’s so many moving pieces to it from street closures to impact on the businesses," he said.

FOX 2: "When you tell people you’re from Detroit, what has been the conversation about the Lions, and about the city?"

"It seems that everyone that we’ve interacted with, were rooting for the Lions," he said."I said it a couple times to some other people, the Dallas Cowboys are no longer America’s team. The Detroit Lions are America’s team.

"I think the Lions' run, over the course of three playoff games — with a national broadcast of Detroit at the forefront, I think that only amplifies the opportunity and it brings more significance to the draft in Detroit."

The planning committee will stay in Las Vegas until Monday. But before the draft arrives, the Detroit Sports Commission will host the NCAA Mens Regional Basketball Tournament games.

It provides another opportunity to showcase the city.