September 24, 2023
Ford Field (Capacity: 65,000)
Detroit, MI
Detroit Lions vs Atlanta Falcons
Final Score: 20 – 6
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This season’s annual football trip with my brother began in Toledo and ended here in Detroit with a great NFL experience at a Lions game. The Motor City is located in Southeast Michigan along the Detroit River, which divides the U.S. and Canada. The story of Detroit is often focused on the last 100 years. The first half featured wealth and success in the form of being the automotive industry’s world leader. The second half starting towards the 1970s began a sharp decline as foreign competition made a major dent in the local economy and the city spiraled into poverty and rapidly declining population, amongst other issues. While Detroit still has problems and a big number of abandoned buildings, downtown (and the beautiful architecture highlighted by art-deco skyscrapers) has many areas of resurgence. Population is 640,000 (27th in the U.S.) which is well less than half of its peak in the 1950s. The Lions arrived in the NFL in 1934 when the Portsmouth Spartans moved to Detroit. They have won four championships, all of them before the Super Bowl era. In fact, they are one of just four teams never to play in a Super Bowl. The franchise is one steeped in losing as their last playoff win remarkably came during the 1991 season, back when Barry Sanders was dazzling in the backfield. They’ve had just 6 winning seasons in the last 22 years, though there was plenty of optimism when we attended our game. In 2002, the team left the Pontiac Silverdome in the suburbs for Ford Field downtown, an indoor building that is a fantastic place for the NFL team.
Prestige Ranking: 5 out of 5
Location
You may not go out of your way to spend a leisurely weekend in Detroit, however the city is growing as a regional travel destination. The Henry Ford in nearby Dearborn is the largest indoor-outdoor museum in the country and you can explore amazing collections in innovation and the automotive industry. The Motown Museum dives into the historic influence Detroit had on the music industry, while downtown features an impressive collection of plazas, statues and parks. Ford Field (sitting next to Comerica Park) is indeed downtown, just north of the architecturally striking skyscrapers and famous monuments. Even though the nearby surroundings aren’t exactly bustling, on Gameday they close off Brush Street and turn it into Pride Plaza. Here, you’ll find corporate swag, a few food trucks and simple games with long lines. The 40-yard dash is entertaining. Because the stadium is downtown, tailgating is more limited than other NFL stadiums and you’ll find the scene more spread out across varying surface lots. A couple restaurants are nearby if you want to eat after the game, otherwise, a 10 minute walk is best to try for something in Greektown or the cluster of eateries across form Comerica Park. There wasn’t any point during my walking around these areas of Downtown Detroit where I became concerned for my safety.
Location Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Michigan can have a lot of construction and subsequent traffic during any point of the year and the Detroit Metro is no exception. However, there are many times you can get into downtown with no delays and that certainly was the case when we arrived on a Sunday Morning. Downtown is accessible via a multitude of highways and there are a ton of garages and surfaces lots throughout the city to choose from. These range from 5-20 minutes from the stadium. You’ll want to do some scouting ahead of time to find what is best for you and that will also dictate how you arrive from I-75 or I-375. Our choice was the Port Atwater Parking Garage ($15 for the day), close to the River. It was perfect as we got to see the downtown sights on the way to the game by walking a little out of the way to Hart Plaza and Woodward Ave. Then, on the way back, it was a 20-minute walk from Ford Field. That may be lengthy, but we got out of the garage with absolutely no wait and then made two right turns and we were back on I-375 in minutes. This was congested for a mile or two as we headed north, but it quickly cleared out. In terms of public transportation, it is limited. There is at least a 6 mile streetcar loop that connects Downtown with Midtown and the North End.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6 out of 8
Exterior
Ford Field looks really good from the outside and the use of red brick is prevalent throughout. Even though it doesn’t match the diversity of the skyscraper not too far away, there are a fair amount of buildings in the nearby vicinity that also are brick. This includes the adjoining old Hudson’s Warehouse built in the 1920’s and integrated with the stadium. Sides are made up of many brick columns and rows that cross each other, with glass windows taking up the open middle spaces. Up above is a white material that makes the higher roof of the stadium. Gate A features the most sleek entrance as the brickwork is curved given that it contains a rotunda within. Here is where a classy “Ford Field” sign lays on the stadium. Another nice touch are the Lion / Stadium logos on granite blocks along the side walls. The adjoining buildings are at the South End, while the North End has a flat look mixed with metallic material.
Exterior Ranking: 8 out of 10
Concourse
It is nice to not have to walk up miles of ramps to reach the upper deck. The field is built well below street level and that means concourse entry is in the middle of the seating bowl. First, fans enter into a corner plaza and these offer some space relief from the otherwise congested concourses, but not much. Before the game and especially at halftime, walkways are jammed and getting food is a difficult challenge. In fact, my brother missed half of the third quarter waiting in line as he left his seat right when the second quarter ended. This is in spite of one side concourse being split into two (one behind the suites and the other in front). The overall look in this area is quite decent as brick and metal trussing is utilized, plus there is a view of the field in sections of the lower level. There’s almost an urban street feel to this part of the concourse. To get to the upper concourse, there are corner escalators and the walkways up here are tighter and more plain to look at (white walls with concrete back of seating above). Scattered about are spots for tables and a sports bar or two.
Concourse Ranking: 4 out of 5
Food
There are a decent amount of large sandwich varieties with meats including beef brisket, cheesesteak and pulled chicken. Most of these sound better than they look and taste. Arguably the best option is the Greek Gyro station as the disappearance of Slow’s BBQ really hurt the food scene. Eggrolls and Vegan specials are a few other noteworthy things. Detroit is known for a “Coney”, which is a hot dog topped with beanless chili, diced white onions and yellow mustard and I was disappointed to not find that at Ford Field (especially given that they have them across the street at the ballpark). Same thing with Detroit-Style Pizza, though you can get Little Caesars, whose world headquarters is down the road. On the plus side, there is one concession stand that has an item featuring something from the city of the visiting team (Atlanta Fried Chicken Fries in this case) and the Bavarian Pretzel I had was legit. For alcohol, you can find beer, cocktails and wine. The national brands are hard to escape when it comes to beer in an NFL stadium, but here you’ll find some craft options sprinkled in. They are mainly from the Western part of the state (Bell’s and Founders).
Food Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Interior
People may gripe about an indoor stadium because it’s not authentic, but I’ll tell you, it sure is nice not having to worry about the weather or the sun in your eyes. This becomes especially true when you get older and if the stadium is in a cold-weather city. The other nice thing is that it enhances crowd noise and it can really make for a formidable home field advantage. This is less the case with newer mega stadiums with suites and clubs galore. Thankfully, that’s not the case in Detroit and I’m happy it was built years before the Cowboys changed the industry. Ford Field has one of the best seating layouts as they put nearly all of the suites on one side of the stadium. It drives me nuts that more pro stadiums don’t do this. Here, they stack three decks of open suites (with nice, soft indoor lighting so it looks good from a distance) with a fourth top deck for press. What is really unique is that these are actually in the adjoining old warehouse as the buildings were connected. Below the suites is the club level and a 200 deck of seats for those within the club. That means the other sideline has an upper deck for regular ol’ folks that is not insanely high and features nice sightlines and height from the field. No middle tier of suites, though there are some of those higher-end suites at the top above the seating bowl and out of the way. Fans are not way in the heavens, especially given that there is no third deck. Ford Field features a seating diagram that has a very slight curve to the sideline seating and then hard angled corners before giving way to flat end sections. There are two open upper corners, which are filled by an annoying circular video screen that play commercials for Ford and Coca-Cola. One thing I didn’t like was that it felt like rows were pushed outward at a much shallower angle than at other stadiums. May have been an illusion, but it was something that struck me right away when I first entered at a corner. The seats themselves are blue and comfortable, though a little tight. Leg room was fine. There are no obstructions, even in the lower rows of the upper deck where railings had the potential to get in the way. The roof is complex with metal beams and white pillowy things throughout. Even though Ford Field looks dark on TV, there are upper reaches of the stadium that let in tinted outside light. This frosted design replicates the feel of windows inside an area auto manufacturing plant. Overall, it’s a great stadium that is underrated in my opinion.
Interior Ranking: 12 out of 14
Scoreboard
Scoreboards don’t have to be gargantuan to be good and evidence of that is here at Ford Field. Widescreens are located above each seating end and they are very clear with great size. What I didn’t like was that when they showed a replay (which were frequent enough), they didn’t use the entire length of the video. They kept up the score/time/game info on the left and stats on the right. I also wanted to see more running out-of-town scores running somewhere else in the stadium, like the circular corner screen. For those with an obstructed scoreboard view in the upper deck, smaller screens are on the back of the overhang.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
24 years. That’s how long it took the inept Lions Front Office to properly honor one of the greatest of all time, Barry Sanders, with a statue. In fact, that honor went up the week before my visit. I know they had issues with each other, but c’mon. Ford Field is surprisingly devoid of historical timelines and honors as any small displays felt like afterthoughts. These were Sanders’ HOF jacket and the jersey of Chris Spielman. Concourse walls at least have past player pictures and occasional artwork. Inside the field, the façade features honored players with their years of service, while the rafters have decent-looking banners containing Division and League Championships.
Displays Ranking: 3 out of 6
Cost
Any sniff of the Lions being good and tickets get in high demand with jacked-up prices. I don’t know how the team handles single-game prices, but it’s clear to me that they absolutely adjust based on the temperature of the team (which is crap for the fans). I jumped on things early and right after the schedule release, I bought secondary market tickets for $85 (with fees) in the end 300 level. By August, those same tickets were going for $130. After the Lions season-opening win against the defending Super Bowl Champions, they were $175. The team followed suit because if you were to buy the cheapest seats through the team, a run-of-the-mill Sunday Afternoon mid-season game was around the $150 mark. That’s very high, but crazily, it’s good for only 13th in the league in terms of highest cost for cheapest seat. While, parking ranges from $30 – $60 within a 10-minute walk to the stadium, you can certainly save money by going further out. Our lot was just $15 and you can even park for free at the MGM Grand Casino (20-minute walk). For the concessions, there are deals too. Power Hour Pricing 1-2 hours before the game feature a hot dog, soda and beer for less than $4. Otherwise, it’s the usual steep pro city pricing with a Cheeseburger/Fries combo going for $13.29 and a beer ranging for $12 – $15.
Cost Ranking: 5 out of 8
Fan Support
The Lions fanbase is equally impressive and underrated. Think about how many garbage seasons this team has had and during those years, Ford Field still draws, especially if you compare to other teams during a down year. Their fanbase does not have national appeal as you really have to have Michigan ties to find fans (maybe Toledo too), but their passion is deep even if it’s not college level hysteria. Note that 2023 was the first time that Season Tickets sold out at Ford Field. It’s especially rewarding to see them playing well and these fans deserve having something to get excited about. Similar to Buffalo and Cleveland, it’s very difficult to find an empty seat during a game if the team is .500 or better.
Fan Support Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
Holy cow! I’ve been to over 300 games across the country and there are only two thus far where my ears have hurt from such a deafening noise. Nassau Coliseum for a NY Islanders playoff game and here at Ford Field. I love me a dome and this is why as it retains and enhances the noise so much better than outdoors. Ford Field isn’t a new cavernous place either, so the acoustics are tremendous. A week before our game, the decibel level peaked at 127.5, not far behind the top loud stadiums in Kansas City and Seattle. The beginning of our game was so loud and on defense, the fans cranked it up to another level on 3rd down. You can tell it mattered too because Lions players constantly were waving their arms up and down, beckoning the noise. It gave me goosebumps and this is just Week 3. Can’t imagine if they make the playoffs. Even more respectfully was how quiet the fans were before offensive plays were run. Touchdowns and big plays brought super loud roars and pretty much the whole crowd came to their feet. Every once in awhile, you’ll hear a “Let’s Go Lions” chant and after a touchdown, their long-time fight song “Gridiron Heroes” is played. People sing along, but not to the extent of other fanbases with their song (Philly, Buffalo)
Atmosphere Ranking: 14 out of 14
Other Stuff
The Lions have been hosting a game on Thanksgiving since 1934. It was all an idea to draw more fans and it has continued on ever since. One of the best traditions in sports is having the turkey in the oven and the Lions on in the background as the 12:30 PM game……The shade of blue that the Lions wear is officially known as “Honolulu Blue”…..Cheerleaders are a relatively new thing in Detroit as they began with the team in 2016…..Ford Field is tied for the third smallest stadium in the NFL by capacity.
Game
Detroit was in control of this one from beginning to end as their defense shined. They held the Falcons to just 183 total yards and sacked Desmond Ridder 7 times. Two of those came from Aidan Hutchinson, who is even more impressive watching live. Amon-Ra St. Brown had 9 catches for 102 yards as the Lions easily won 20-6.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
