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Tailgating to return for Detroit Lions game against Tennessee Titans following deadly shooting
Starting Sunday, Oct. 27, tailgating will return, but with notable changes, says the President of the Eastern Market Partnership. "We look forward to Lions fans to come back to Eastern Market tailgating," said Katy Trudeau "We’ll be starting tailgating at 9 a.m. for the 1 p.m. game as opposed to 7 a.m. which was our previous start time."
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A tradition that was temporarily taken away after a deadly shooting is returning for Detroit Lions fans on Sunday.
After a double shooting near Shed 6 in September, tailgating activity at Eastern Market was put on pause, taking away a long-time pre-game tradition for fans.
"I remember when lions were zero and 16, so that’s how far I go back as a fan and tailgating as well," said fan Deon Rushin.
On Sunday, Sept. 15, a shooting at Eastern Market left one person dead. An investigation found the 40-year-old shooter acted in self-defense when, amid an argument with a group of people, he was confronted by a man brandishing a gun, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Starting Sunday, Oct. 27, tailgating will return, but with notable changes, the President of the Eastern Market Partnership said.
"We look forward to Lions fans to come back to Eastern Market tailgating," said Katy Trudeau "We’ll be starting tailgating at 9 a.m. for the 1 p.m. game as opposed to 7 a.m. which was our previous start time."
The change means tailgating will now start four hours before kickoff, when the Lions take on the Tennessee Titans at Ford Field. There are other changes too, including that tickets must be purchased before showing up and the market is no longer selling single parking spaces for tailgating.
"We’ll be selling in groups of two spots at a time," Trudeau said. "So moving the tailgating footprint up into two spots as opposed to one spot where the car is parked and the tailgating is happening in the drive-lane, this gives us the ability to move everyone safely out of the drive lanes. But what it also does is it reduces the number off tickets that we’re selling by about half which is a way for us to control the crowd."
The number of tailgaters per tailgating space will be restricted to 10 and policies will be posted throughout the district for all to see, with Trudeau saying they will definitely see more police.
But as the tailgaters come back on site, not everyone is happy, including the owner of Trinosophes on Gratiot Avenue.
"It creates terrible congestion," said Joel Peterson. "It inhibits people from traveling the full length of the market and most of the locals want to stay away whenever it’s happening."
As the lions continue to win, fans say they want to show their support and that means coming out to tailgate at Eastern Market.
"It will be right back to fun and enjoying each other, watching the game," said Rushin.
The Detroit Lions take on the Tennessee Titans at 1 p.m. Sunday on FOX 2.