Franchises
Closing Shot: Detroit's Big Day
The Lions continue their Thanksgiving Day tradition this week with a game against the Packers, but a road race and parade earlier in the day further make Motor City the place to be.
For longtime Detroit Lions season-ticket holder Brian Keith Rankin, Thanksgiving Day football starts early – many hours before the Lions kick off at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Not long after dawn, Brian and his son Hunter traditionally head downtown, park in a stadium lot and then make a short walk to Woodward Avenue. That’s the route of America’s Thanksgiving Parade presented by Gardner White, which draws hundreds of thousands of onlookers and conveniently ends a few blocks from Ford Field.
Combined with an affiliated road race that morning, it’s the biggest gathering annually in Detroit. The parade, the S3 Turkey Trot and the Lions game have separate histories and traditions, but together, they combine for an iconic holiday gathering and sponsorship synergies.
Rankin went to Lions games at the old suburban Pontiac Silverdome with his father on Thanksgiving. But by the time Hunter was old enough, Ford Field had opened downtown and it became a one-stop shop for family fun.
“It’s something my dad shared with me, and as soon as my son got old enough, I continued the tradition with my son,” Rankin said. He recalls years of standing across from Little Caesars Arena with his son, watching as floats pass by with Motown music blaring. Tony Hawk once skated through. “It’s a fun family day,” he said.
Since Ford Field opened in 2002, the downtown conglomeration has become the Holy Grail for marketers: A massive event associated with happiness regardless of the outcome of the game, a good thing with the Lions’ 5-16 record on Thanksgiving since Ford Field opened.
“The parade is massive, it always has been, but attendance is even stronger now because you get a lot of people who are going to the game anyway,” said Tony Michaels, president and CEO of the Parade Co., which helps stage the parade. “It’s given us the opportunity to make the parade bigger and bolder and create that synergistic optic, that this is Detroit on Thanksgiving morning. It’s just really special.”
The parade and the Lions share several major sponsors, including Rocket Mortgage, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Ford. Ford vehicles haul the floats, and Blue Cross activates on their parade float, which carries the game ball for the afternoon.
This year could reach new heights. It’s the first time since 1993 the Lions have been alone in first place in their division heading into Thanksgiving.
“It’s going to be lit,” Rankin said. “It’s going to be a different Thanksgiving Day that I’ve ever seen with the Lions. It’s not going to be just a holiday family thing, it’s going to be loud and pumped up.”
