Michigan Matters: Are you ready for the 2024 NFL Draft?
(CBS DETROIT) - The Motor City is putting the final touches in place for the 2024 NFL Draft as it rolls into Detroit next week.
Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit, and Alexis Wiley, co-chair of the 2024 NFL Draft Detroit Local Organizing Committee, discussed the upcoming draft during this week's Michigan Matters.
A few hundred thousand people are expected to attend events tied to it, and millions watch it unfold on TV as the annual confab where NFL teams select college players is held.
The draft is expected to bring in millions to Metro Detroit. Numerous companies are involved in festivities tied to the draft.
Wiley talked about the many events taking place all week, including concerts with artists like Big Sean, that are free.
The roundtable of Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett, CEO Denise Ilitch and consultant Susy Avery appear on the roundtable to talk about the impact of the draft.
They also talked about this week's Detroit Free Press "Breakfast Club," where Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford Motor Company, appeared as 250 influential CEOs and other leaders and students from Detroit Public Schools attended the sold-out event. Ford talked about Detroit, his family, EVs and a little politics as they have impacted EV sales in the U.S.
Ilitch, who was among the attendees, talked about Ford's comments on EVs and her reaction to them and how they are selling in this country compared to Europe and Asia, where they are going strong.
Avery mentioned the importance of the Ford family staying in Detroit and investing here, and Barnett spoke of Michigan Central Station, which Bill Ford championed after Ford purchased the once majestic facility in 2018 to see it rehabbed and come back to life as an important hub for innovation and mobility.
Watch Michigan Matters at its new time: 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit, noon Sundays on Detroit 50 WKBD, and also streaming 9 p.m. weeknights on CBS Detroit's website, CBS Detroit's app and Pluto TV.
(Carol Cain is the 13-time Emmy-winning senior producer and host of Michigan Matters)