Detroit Lions training camp is tepid compared to others around the league, and it’s not all their fault. Their Allen Park headquarters can be tough to get to from much of Metro Detroit, it can be even harder to find parking, and the land itself doesn’t exactly lend itself to huge crowds.
Asked whether the Lions are considering moving future training camps away from Allen Park, team president Rod Wood said he’s thinking even bigger.
Just moving the whole operation all together.
“We’re considering whether we’re going to continue to stay there and put more money into the facility, or be better off looking at locations elsewhere in Metro Detroit, where we’d have more space for the team and training camp for the fans,” Wood told reporters on Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix. “Right now, in the short run, we’re going to stay where we are, do the best we can to get as many fans in there and have the experience as good as it can be.”
The Lions spent $34 million to build their current headquarters on 22 acres in Allen Park, a suburb southwest of the city. The facility includes an indoor practice field, two full-length outdoor practice fields, staff offices, a broadcast studio, film rooms, a weight room, locker rooms, rehab facilities and so on.
“The Detroit Lions’ new headquarters will be a world-class facility that is elite among professional sports teams’ training centers,” Lions vice chairman Bill Ford Jr. said at the time.
Now more than 20 years have passed, the times have changed, and so has the game. The Lions have tried to adapt, but remain limited by their location, particularly as it relates to crowdflow for training camp. Summer practices are often sparsely attended, even though they’re free. Hosting joint practices is even more complicated, as Detroit tries to accommodate two teams and their fans in a facility more than two decades old.
“I’d like to have 15,000 fans there,” Wood said. “But given the constraints of where we are, that’s how we’re dealing with it right now.”
The Lions also haven’t been competitive in a very long time, and that certainly doesn’t help. But now as the team returns to relevancy once again -- they’re prepared for sellouts all season at Ford Field, and expect to play more prime-time games than ever -- they’re pouring money into all corners of their operation. They’ve laid new state-of-the-art turf at their indoor facility as well at Ford Field, they’ve invested in new kitchen and training staff, and now they’re re-considering moving their long-term headquarters all together.
“I kind of had it as one of my goals this year, was to kind of decide are we staying or are we going to relocate,” Wood said. “I’m not going to hit that goal because I’ve not made that decision yet or recommendation. But it’s a near-term thing we need to decide.”
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