Sports help put Detroit back in national spotlight

Excerpts from the article:

Although city officials and business leaders have been struggling for years to try to improve Detroit’s image, neither its annual automotive show nor its numerous conventions have captured the attention of mainstream America.

One area, however, where the city has recently had great success is in hosting major sporting competitions. Over the past few years, Detroit has been the stage for some of the world’s biggest events, including golf’s Ryder Cup, the MLB All-Star Game and the NFL Super Bowl. It is also scheduled to host the U.S. college basketball and ice hockey championships (the NCAA Final Four and Frozen Four) as well as another golf tournament, the PGA Championship, in coming years.

“Hosting a major sporting event appeals to the general interest of people living in this country,” said Wayne McDonnell, a professor of sports management at New York University.

“You can justify [hosting sports events] because people have a genuine interest in sports–it’s a passion, in some cases it’s a religion, and there’s going to be an immediate economic impact. If a city holds a major sporting event successfully, say the Super Bowl, it puts that city on the map. People may think it’s an attractive place to visit again, and maybe tourism will go up.”

In fact, hosting sporting events has helped revitalize the city, according to some Detroit officials. In recent years, development projects worth about 24 billion dollars have helped transform parts of the city. Those projects have been showcased during major sporting events. “People who haven’t been here for a long time wouldn’t recognize [the city],” said Carla Conner-Penzabene, director of sales at the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The convention center, the headquarters hotel and virtually every hotel around the center has been updated–the entire city has been updated.”

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