I was planning a Baseball tour to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit when I realised that the 2024 NFL Draft takes place in Detroit between the 25th and 27th of April. With a little adjustment to my plan, I decided to go.

I’ve previously watched the NFL Draft on TV from the UK to see what it was all about. To be honest, once I had watched it, I thought it wasn’t something I would do again for three hours in the early hours of a “schoolday” morning. However, being there during the event reignited my interest in it.

As a season ticket holder at the Atlanta Falcons, I was aware of competitions to win a trip to the NFL Draft, but as I live in the UK, I am not eligible to enter them. I did contact my Account Rep at the Falcons to let them know I would be in Detroit and asked if there was anything planned for the Falcons that I could attend; well, she passed my email on to the team dealing with it. A couple of weeks later, I was offered the chance to watch the NFL Draft from the Atlanta Falcons Inner Circle, which I accepted.

I arrived in Detroit at lunchtime by car, travelling from Cleveland, where I had watched the Guardians the previous night. Luckily, my hotel had rooms available so that I could check-in. As expected, hotel prices were inflated because the NFL Draft was in town. Just a little warning: if you use services like Airbnb or VRBO, check the owners know the draft is on before you book. It’s common for some owners to cancel your booking once they realise so they can re-list at a higher price. My original booking via VRBO was cancelled with only 24 hours’ notice whilst I was in Cleveland. I did find somewhere else using Expedia, but there was a difference in cost!

Once unpacked, it was a 10-minute walk to the NFL Draft Experience, which covered a large part of downtown Detroit. There was always a chance of seeing someone from the NFL world, and as luck would have it, I bumped into Annie Agar, whose weekly post-game “zoom calls” are funny.

I was told I needed to download the Free NFL One Pass app to enter the NFL Draft Experience footprint, but I was never asked for it when going through the airport-style security checks.

The footprint of the NFL Draft Experience contained the Draft Theater. Plenty of activities, including the NFL Shop, which had the longest queue, plus player appearances, games, and food outlets. The NFL One Pass had all the information on what was happening and an opportunity to win prizes if you went around and scanned the QR codes for each activity.

Entry was free, and there was a large space in front of the Theatre for fans to watch the NFL Draft and screens around the area.

Each team’s inner circle of fans had to be in their seats for 5.45 pm, which was quite a while before the Draft started at 8.07 pm. Each team had 15 seats inside the Inner Circle, allocated by the teams. The Falcons had the Teams Fan of the Year and International Fan of the Year, plus four competition winners and their guests. There were two reps from the Falcons, and I made up the last seat.

Surrounding us to the sides were the hospitality seats purchased through the NFL Hospitality Partner, On-Location, and for $2,270, you could have a seat inside the Theater for Round 1, $1,250 for Rounds 2 & 3 or $550 for Rounds 4-7. There was also the option of purchasing a package for all three days for $5,500, with some added behind-the-scenes tours.

The Draft pre-show started at 6.15 pm with a performance by Big Sean, a Detroit rapper well-received by the local crowd.

This was followed by a roll call from the fans from the different teams in the Inner Circle. We had to be ready for our turn, which was signalled by the arrival of the TV Cameras just before we were called out.

It was then time to introduce the top prospects for the 2024 NFL Draft, then the National Anthem and then the annual booing of the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, who pulled off a masterstroke to curtail the booing by bringing on Eminem, who then introduced some current and past Detroit Lions players which brought the largest cheer of the evening so far.

It was time for the main event, the 1st round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The picks for Round 1 were called by the Commissioner, so the crowd got their opportunity to boo him.

The first seven picks were not a surprise, and then it was the turn of my Atlanta Falcons. The TV cameras arrived at our little pod, and the giant screen let us know that the pick was in. The Commissioner came on stage and announced, “With the 8th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons select Michael Pennix Jr., Quarterback, Washington.”

Cue exuberant cheers into the cameras, and then it was a case of, wait, what?! It was a surprise, to say the least, but what do we know?!

Unfortunately, Michael Pennix Jr. wasn’t in the Green Room at the draft, as part of the process is that they came down to their team’s fans for more picture opportunities, so we missed out on that.  As we didn’t have any picks left in Round 1, barring any pick trades, we could get food and drink. I also said hello to most of the six UK fans who were their team’s International Fan of the Year.

A few media were wandering around the inner circle, and I got an opportunity to have a picture with Kyle Brandt, one of the presenters of Good Morning Football on the NFL Network.

I had to be close enough to our pod, just in case of a Pick Swap, and a dash back to be ready for the pick, but as it turns out, our night was done, which wrapped up just after 11 pm local.

The start time to be in the Inner Circle for Day 2, which covered Rounds 2 and 3, was the same. However, the 2024 NFL Draft started an hour earlier, at 7:06 p.m.

After the Atlanta Falcons’ surprise first-round Draft Pick, every man and his dog asked about it when walking around downtown Detroit. By the end of the afternoon, I had my take on it down to a tee. I may even have come across as knowing what I was talking about or possibly not!

The NFL draft flowed faster, with only 7 minutes “on the clock” for Round 2 and 5 minutes for Round 3. The Atlanta Falcons moved up the Draft with a pick swap with the Arizona Cardinals, and the message flashed up on our WhatsApp app group so that we could be back at our pod ready for the pick announcement.

The Atlanta Falcons picked Ruke Orhorhoro, a Defensive Tackle from Clemson, in Round 2 and Bralen Trice, an Outside Linebacker from Washington, in Round 3. Our day was run with no more picks traded, but it ended with an impressive Fireworks Display.

The NFL announced that 270,000 fans were in the footprint of the NFL Draft on Day 1 and 700,000 over the three days, a record for attendance at the Draft. The vast majority are Detroit Lions fans.

I didn’t attend Day 3 as I attended the Detroit Tigers Baseball Game. With Rounds 4 to 7 to be announced, the NFL Draft started at Noon and finished with Michigan native singer and songwriter Bazzi performing.

I thoroughly enjoyed attending the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit. I must thank the Atlanta Falcons’ team, Cheyenne and Em, for arranging for me to watch from the Inner Circle and taking care of me.

The 2025 NFL Draft will be held in Green Bay between April 24 and 26, and judging by its popularity in Detroit, as long as they have a big enough area, I’m sure the attendance record will be broken again.