Draft attendees have reported seeing parking costs as high as $100 in some areas on Thursday, with rates lowering to $40 at many lots on Friday. Street closures are also complicating the parking situation downtown, and officials recommend pre-arranging parking through apps like Park Detroit and Park Whiz, or taking advantage of the many Park and Ride options in the city, including fan shuttles, the QLINE and buses.
Fan shuttle locations
WSU Structures 1 (first come, first served), 450 W. Palmer Ave. ($10 per car)
Bagley Mobility Hub, 1501 Wabash Street. ($15 per car)Prepay here
River East Garage, 214 Rivard Street. ($15 per car)Prepay here
QLINE
QLINE, Detroit’s free rail service traveling North and South along Woodward Avenue, will operate with short service routes, but higher frequency service during the draft to accommodate anyone parking on Detroit’s north end.
The service runs from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. and stops at Sproat Street by Little Caesars Arena throughout the draft. Visitors will be able to either walk to entrance points down Woodward through Draft Day in the D or can transfer to the People Mover at Grand Circus Park.
Detroit People Mover
Detroit’s elevated rail system is operating 24 hours a day during the NFL Draft, with trains running every five minutes. All 13 stations will be open for convenient travel to and from the draft activity sites, as well as to nearby restaurants, lodging, parking, and easy transfers between DDOT and the QLINE.
The Fort/Cass Station will be the designated location connecting accessible transportation and is the westside transfer and drop-off point for west-side DDOT and SMART buses.
Bricktown Station is the eastside transfer and drop-off point for east-side DDOT and SMART buses.
Bus drop off locations
Fort/Cass (on Cass) People Mover Station (Close to Entrance 3 and People Mover)
Bricktown People Mover Station (Close to Greektown)
I-75 Service Drive west of Woodward by Little Caesar’s Arena (Close to DDP Draft Day in the D)
If you’re looking for some more draft day experiences check out this offering for kids from Visit Detroit. Corner Ballpark is hosting a variety of youth activities throughout the draft, including football clinics and NFL FLAG skills and drills. A NFL OnePass is required for access.
If you’re looking for a non-draft experience, check out the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, which will present “Country Hits: Songs from Nashville” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
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Hernz Laguerre Jr. is a Multimedia Journalist at 101.9 WDET. He is one of the co-host for "Detroit Evening Report," one of the weekend anchors for "Weekend Edition," the producer for our political podcast, "MichMash," and reports on arts, culture and politics.
Some downtown garages and lots have jacked up their prices as hundreds of thousands of visitors visit Detroit for the 2024 NFL Draft. Draft attendees have reported seeing parking costs as high as $100 in some areas on Thursday, with rates lowering to $40 at many lots on Friday.
Admission to the Draft Experience is free for fans of all ages. Access to the Draft Theater, where the selection ceremony occurs, is limited to ticket-holding guests. However, as seats become available, the NFL will select some fans to enter the theater, either in open seats or standing spots.
The 2024 NFL draft is in Detroit, spanning from Campus Martius to Hart Plaza in downtown with additional events in Beacon Park, Capitol Park, Grand Circus Park, Harmonie Park, and along Woodward Avenue.
Parking close to the action won't be cheap. As of Thursday pre-paid parking at a downtown surface lot on the first day of the draft, April 25, cost an average of $70. There were some lots with parking available north of the Fisher Freeway for $10-$30, while parking spaces in Greektown lots were going for $91.
Hourly parking in Detroit is $1 per hour, Monday through Saturday, between the hours of 7AM-10PM local time. Payment is not required between the hours of 10PM-7AM, as well as Sundays. From 7AM-6PM, you can purchase up to a maximum or 2 hours but after 6PM, you can purchase up to 4 hours of parking.
The NFL Draft in Detroit racked up record attendance numbers. It's estimated that more than 775,000 football fans gathered downtown during the three days of festivities.
2024 NFL Draft attendance record set with more than 700,000 fans attending the event in Detroit. DETROIT -- The 2024 NFL Draft has a new attendance record after more than 700,000 fans flooded downtown Detroit for the three-day event.
Whitmer announced that the 2024 NFL draft had broken the draft attendance record with 700,000 fans and counting. In 2019, Nashville set the previous record after drawing 600,000 fans over a three-day span. The final tally was more than 775,000 fans attending the three-day draft.
The NFL Draft presented by Bud Light is April 25 – 27, 2024 and entry is FREE! Fans can now register for free entry by downloading the NFL OnePass app or on the web at NFL.com/DraftAccess. All adults are required to register but can also register up to five children to get into the event.
The 2026 NFL draft will be the 91st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Three-day bash across Downtown Detroit parks to feature large screens showing live NFL Draft action, Bud Light beer tents, live music, local food trucks, shopping, games, and more.
Those planning to park downtown are encouraged to arrive by 10 a.m. You may find off-street parking options on the Park Detroit app or on Park Whiz. You can pay for metered parking through Park Detroit's website or app. There are also options for private parking throughout the city.
There are several options for parking around Soldier Field. The North Garage, Waldron Deck and the South Parking Lot are reserved for those with season coupon parking for Bears Event Days. All other events are open to cash parking and pre-purchased parking at www.SoldierFieldParking.com.
Parking for Movement Electronic Music Festival in Detroit is not located at Hart Plaza and can be difficult to find on the day of an event. 225 Congress is a short three block walk to the festival, it's a great location to reserve a parking spot. This is a popular small parking lot that fills up quickly.
Plan ahead and use alternative transit options like the QLINE. For just $5, you can park at Wayne State Lot 12 (6005. Woodward) and ride the QLINE downtown.
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