The Fight to Stay Competitive Through Large Special Event Funding

• Fiscal support from the state government is becoming essential to secure industry-leading events like another NFL Draft, NBA All-Star Games, and more.
• Fans of these events are asked to contact their legislators to express support for adding a large special event fund to the Michigan state budget.

Large special event funding has the potential to continue the momentum from the 2024 NFL Draft and spark future success in attracting high-profile events to the state of Michigan and the Detroit Region. This session, hosted by Visit Detroit, explained how attracting major events and conventions to Michigan is critical to positioning the state as a place to work, live, and play.

Kicking off the conversation, the group spoke about the Detroit Sports Commission, a standing local organizing committee that hits the ground running when Detroit is selected to host large special events, including the 2024 NFL Draft.

“We’re in this to drive events to our city, our Region, but also statewide, and [reap] the benefits that come with these events economically,” Dobek said. “I think we can reach new horizons if we come together as a state … to come up with a statewide solution to really help fuel the future.”

Tellem concurred, adding the importance of working together and the uniqueness of having major regional leaders on the same page when it comes to bidding, organizing, and executing such events.

“Everyone here is determined to do right by Detroit first, and that’s the ethos of this room …making it work to make it happen. …we all care that it’s about Detroit first,” Tellem said. “If it does benefit our [businesses], that’s fantastic, but we’re all working harder because we love Detroit and we want to do right by Detroit.”

Molinari touched upon the business outreach and how something big like an NFL Draft comes to Detroit: taking on a “cut-throat” competition with other states and crafting bids that are almost like resumes, indicating what the city and Detroit Region bring to the event itself, which includes having guaranteed money on the table or at least in the works.

In the past, the Commission and Visit Detroit have been able to work with private donors for fundraising, which covers a variety of costs, such as venue and staff wages, and even parking lot rentals for broadcast trucks. However, this system is becoming unsustainable if the Region is to win bids for bigger events often.

Therefore, the state is overdue for a more formal fund that requires government support, which is common practice among other states, including Ohio and Indiana. Texas, in particular, has three different funding systems, which makes it a shoo-in for events.

“Texas is the gold standard model … they come in with a blank check, for lack of a better term,” Dobek said. “It’s why every two-or-so years [for annual sporting events], you’ll see Dallas or Houston as the host city.”

“Right now, we’re in a cycle of, we bid on something, if we win it, we’d save up for it using our own money, then another five to seven years, we’ll go after something else that’s really big,” Molinari said. “If we were able to secure large special event funding on an annual basis in the state budget, then we’d have a virtuous circle effect where the more success you have, the more success you’re going to have.”

This 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference session was hosted by Visit Detroit.