Detroit Vies for More Sports

Detroit is seeing stars when it comes to their sports franchise grasp—having already bid for the NFL Draft, the NBA All-Star Game, and the NHL All-Star Game. Now they are taking aim at the Super Bowl.

The Detroit Sports Commission has recently announced the formation of the Detroit Sports Organizing Corp with aims of furthering the city’s clutch on large sports events. The newly formed organization’s primary function is to identify, bid, plan and produce major sporting events through a committee format.

As part of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Detroit Sports Commission introduced the new committee during a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club at Ford Field last week. The Commission is hoping that the addition of the committee will allow the city to properly evaluate and highlight future bidding chances. Having the committee may help to attract major annual and one-time events in the sports world.

“The formation of this high caliber group is an unprecedented move for our region as we set the course to compete for the most important and highly visible events in the nation and world,” said Dave Beachnau, vice president of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Our goal is to make sure future bid and event opportunities operate efficiently through a strategic and thoughtful approach with the right organizations and individuals involved from start to finish.”

Detroit has been growing in attractiveness to the industry since the recent rejuvenation projects kicked off. With the addition of the Little Caesars Arena, the $100-million renovation of Ford’s Field, and the Detroit Pistons downtown relocation, the Motor City has been getting quite a bit of attention in recent months. In fact, April of 2017 saw the awarding of several NCAA championship events to the Metro area, including the 2020 Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Frozen Four, 2021 Division I men’s basketball first and second rounds, and the 2022 Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships. Currently, 2018 brings the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships and the World Youth Bowling Championships to the Motor City.

News & Image Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/2017/10/25/detroit-committee-target-marquee-sporting-events/106991170/