'It's a Money Day': Detroit businesses are loving the Lions' playoff run

The Detroit Lions, whose roots date back to 1930, are just one of four NFL teams that have never played in the Super Bowl. (Pop quiz: Can you guess the other three?) Before this season, the team had that too won only one play-off game since Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. So Lions fans were right to go wild when their team won the division for the first time in three decades, breaking its playoff drought this month by beating the Los Angeles Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team's playoff run has brought much joy and a boost to local businesses around Ford Field, the team's stadium.

“On playoff day it was non-stop.”

Buddy's Pizza, a restaurant in downtown Detroit, was packed Sunday.

“It's really big for us and for a lot of other bars and restaurants in the area,” said Andrew Stanek, manager of the restaurant's location near Ford Field. “The fans of the Detroit Lions, through thick and thin and despite all these sixty years of badness, will stick with their team.”

A few blocks away, at Harry's Detroit Bar & Grill, a line had formed outside the restaurant and on the sidewalk.

Cesar Ramirez, assistant general manager at Harry's, said the restaurant had record sales during the Lions' first playoff win against the Rams.

“We've definitely seen a huge increase in our business,” he said, adding that the restaurant made just over $60,000 on the day of the team's first playoff win, up from nearly $40,000 for a regular daily profit compared to the same period a year ago. .

“Everyone on the schedule wants to work because they know it's a money day,” Mr. Ramirez said.

The Lions' win over the Buccaneers on Sunday took them to their first NFC Championship Game since the 1991 season. As they take on the 49ers this weekend in Santa Clara, California, Detroit's bars are sure to be packed with Lions fans hoping that their team can make it to the Super Bowl for the first time, leaving only the Cleveland Browns, Houston. Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars as teams that didn't go to the title game.

Lions fans were all smiles as they waited to enter Ford Field. For those who couldn't get tickets, there was a tailgate at the stadium at Eastern Market, a collection of shops and restaurants in a neighborhood of the same name.

Ron Crachiola, who goes by Crackman, was among those at the tailgate. Mr. Crachiola said he went to games with his father 60 years ago, and they had seen far more losses than wins, but had never lost confidence. He said he wished his father, who died in April at age 95, could watch the Lions fight for a Super Bowl berth. On Sunday, Mr. Crachiola wore a necklace with a photo of his father on it.

“It means a lot for the city; for myself, it brings tears to my eyes,” said Mr. Crachiola, who turns 72 this week. “It's still a dream come true. I'm still over the moon. I sit there and just think, this is really happening. We are two games away from the Super Bowl.”

The businesses around Ford Field have benefited from the Lions' playoff run, but also from years of investment in downtown Detroit, a part of the city that has received particular attention after the city's bankruptcy just over a decade ago.

Detroit is vast — 200 square miles — and some neighborhoods, long littered with vacant homes and vacant lots, have seen little change amid the Lions' successes.

Still, some in Michigan say the team's record creates new bonds.

Tiffany and Don Gilling came to Ford Field with their children, Tripp, 9, and Kyden, 12, and a friend, Justin Vidosh, and his 8-year-old son, Parker.

“I think it means so much to our city – the passion, the fun,” Ms Gilling said. “It brings us closer together.”

“My sons – that's the best part – to see my kids experiencing it and just having fun,” Ms Gilling added. “This is something they will always remember. This is an important family memory we are making, and it is what brings me the most happiness.”