The Windsor-Detroit area had a lot to celebrate this past weekend with a record-breaking NFL Draft.
For the first time, Detroit hosted the NFL Draft, during which the league's 32 teams took turns drafting college players to play professional football.
The Draft shattered attendance records, with the NFL reporting 775,000 people jamming downtown Detroit throughout the three-day event. This obliterated the record set at the 2019 Draft in Nashville, which drew 600,000 people.
Each day of the Draft, Detroit police and city officials closed off access to the Cadillac Square-Campus Martius area. Crowds also gathered in Grand Circus Park and the NFL Draft Experience in Hart Plaza.
While economic impact figures were not available as of Monday evening, the Detroit Free Press reported that the 2023 Draft, in Kansas City, Missouri, brought over $164-million US to the region, with about half the total attendance.
Meanwhile, the City of Windsor went all-out in celebrating with its American neighbours.
Thousands of people visited Windsor City Hall on Saturday for an NFL Draft viewing party, which included interactive activities, a football clinic, a Draft-viewing area, and autograph sessions by current and former NFL players with Windsor-Essex connections, including LaSalle's Luke Willson, who is now a commentator for TSN, and Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery.
Theo Johnson, who played football at Holy Names High School and went on to Penn State, appeared at the event soon after he was drafted in the fourth round by the New York Giants.
Following the City Hall party, fans were invited to move to Ouellette Avenue for an NFL Draft Block Party, which drew crowds downtown until late Saturday evening.
The City estimated on Monday that about 6,000 people attended the Windsor events.