DETROIT (WXYZ) — It all comes down to this: a mega matchup Sunday at Ford Field between two 14-win teams, as the Detroit Lions host the Minnesota Vikings.
The winner walks away with the NFC North title and the no. 1 seed in the division. That would mean a first-round bye and home field advantage for the playoffs. Besides the advantage that brings on the field, there’s a lot more at stake for the entire city of Detroit.
Lions fan Zach Prince from Owensboro, Kentucky, was checking into his downtown Detroit hotel on Friday night. Prince was born and raised in Honolulu Blue, but the last time he was at a game in Detroit — when games were held in Pontiac — he was just 7 years old.
This weekend, he brought his whole family to see the city and his team.
“I've been a lifelong Lions fan, been waiting for this for years, man,” Prince said. "We didn't know it was going to be this important of a game when we bought the tickets, so it’s a good surprise.”
By booking their football vacation to Detroit, Prince is the prime example of why this game means so much to the city. The outcome determines whether the Lions playoff games will be on the road or played at home in Detroit.
“As big a game for us as it is for the Lions," said Erik Olson, who owns Thomas Magee's Sporting House and Whiskey Bar in Detroit's Eastern Market. "Last year, we had two home playoff games and it brought $40 million to the city.”
Olson says home games bring his bar five times as much business as an away game would, and the NFL playoffs are a major event.
"It carries our month. People pay their rent off it, owners and employees alike,” Olson said. "Just the volume of people who come downtown without even having a ticket just to patronize businesses? (There's) nothing like the NFL.”
Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit, estimates that each playoff game at Ford Field brings in $20 million to the economy of metro Detroit.
“It would be enormously important to our hospitality community in Southeast Michigan for the Lions to win this game on Sunday,” Molinari said. "It's almost incalculable how much of a benefit this will be.”
Hear more from Claude Molinari in the video player below:
Molinari also says outside the direct spending from fans and visitors, the TV exposure and media attention would also benefit the City.
"Having a worldwide audience on TV watching these home playoff games also is like a testimonial and commercial for Detroit and Southeast Michigan,” Molinari saod. "It shouldn't matter how good your professional football team is to how people think about your city, but the fact of the matter is it does."
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With a new generation of Lions fans following in their parents footsteps, each Detroit win is growing their love for the team and love for the city.
“My grandfather was one, my dad was one, so now passing on down to him,” Prince said pointing to his young son. “Take him to LEGOLAND and the aquarium, get as much in as we can in the little weekend we’re here.”
