2015 DETROIT LIONS MEDIA GUIDE
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Lewand not only wants the team to provide<br />
the best possible product on the field for the fans,<br />
but he also is determined to make the experience<br />
affordable and one of the most valuable investments<br />
for Lions fans. For season ticket holders, the team<br />
offers additional unique interactive opportunities,<br />
such as town hall meetings, conference calls, meetand-greets<br />
with players and special training camp<br />
access among others to complement their purchase<br />
of season tickets.<br />
Since 2009, the Lions have achieved the NFL’s<br />
largest growth in both total season ticket holders<br />
and percentage of Club Seats sold.<br />
The excitement and interest over the Lions<br />
has caught the attention of the NFL’s television<br />
partners to feature the team in their marquee<br />
national broadcast timeslots.<br />
In the past four seasons, Detroit has played<br />
on national television 13 times, including five on<br />
MNF, three on Sunday Night Football, four on<br />
Thanksgiving and one in London.<br />
In <strong>2015</strong>, the Lions are slated for a team-record<br />
six nationally-televised games, which includes<br />
the Lions’ first home SNF game on NBC, the first<br />
appearance on CBS/NFL Network’s broadcast of<br />
Thursday Night Football and two MNF games on<br />
ESPN. For the third time since 1970, the Lions will<br />
appear in primetime four times.<br />
Along with the Lions 76th Thanksgiving Day<br />
game, Detroit will appear on national TV when<br />
the Lions return to London and play in the NFL’s<br />
International Series at Wembley Stadium against<br />
the Kansas City Chiefs. Similar to 2014, the Lions-<br />
Chiefs game will air nationally on FOX at 9:30 a.m.<br />
ET. Since the NFL began playing regular season<br />
games in London during the 2007 season, Detroit<br />
will become the first designated visiting team<br />
selected to play overseas in back-to-back seasons.<br />
Seeking opportunities to reach and communicate<br />
with more fans, Lewand emphasizes the importance<br />
of growing fan interaction through digital media. In<br />
the past year, the team engaged with approximately<br />
12.5 million combined unique users on Detroitlions.<br />
com, various social mediums and the Lions’ mobile<br />
app platform.<br />
Establishing the Lions as a great partner in the<br />
community remains a top priority for Lewand, who<br />
serves as an officer on the board for Detroit Lions<br />
Charities, and the entire organization. In September<br />
2012, the Lions launched the club’s new Living<br />
for the City philanthropic program that produces<br />
transformational efforts that improve the wellbeing<br />
of metro Detroit’s underserved communities<br />
by focusing on sustainable health and wellness<br />
initiatives and community development. Living<br />
for the City supports organizations that pursue<br />
integrated approaches to physical fitness, healthy<br />
eating, housing, land use and environmental<br />
planning, public transportation, community<br />
infrastructure, and aligned workforce opportunities.<br />
In 2009, Lewand completed another major<br />
initiative that continues to help transform the<br />
Lions business operations. The Lions unveiled a<br />
new comprehensive brand that launched changes to<br />
the team’s logo and uniforms, a new team logotype<br />
and font and streamlined branding elements. The<br />
evolution of the Lions brand is the most complete<br />
and all-encompassing modification in franchise<br />
history. The new brand now extends beyond the<br />
<strong>DETROIT</strong> <strong>LIONS</strong><br />
logo on the helmet and presents a consistent visual<br />
identity in new, versatile and distinctive ways.<br />
FORD FIELD PHENOMENON<br />
Under Lewand’s guidance and direction, Ford<br />
Field has become the crown jewel of downtown<br />
Detroit and serves as a cornerstone in the city’s<br />
urban renewal and revitalization efforts. The facility<br />
opened to rave reviews in 2002, with the publisher<br />
of the Detroit Free Press stating that Ford Field<br />
“tells [Detroiters] who we are and suggests what<br />
we can be. Now it’s up to the rest of us to create a<br />
downtown and a city that matches the vision Ford<br />
Field realizes.”<br />
Few venues, considering space, amenities and<br />
operations, have the flexibility to host and execute<br />
the variety of large-scale events as does Ford Field.<br />
Lewand leads in the procurement of all events<br />
at Ford Field, including college football, MHSAA<br />
high school football, concerts, motorsports and<br />
various trade shows. Few venues in the U.S. host<br />
as many football events of all levels as does Ford<br />
Field, filling virtually every weekend in the fall. In<br />
any given year, Ford Field dedicates several dates<br />
to youth, high school, college and NFL games at<br />
Ford Field. In <strong>2015</strong> alone, 13 football games will be<br />
played from Thanksgiving Day through December..<br />
Lewand has led in the effort for the Lions to<br />
partner with the Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast<br />
Conferences to launch a new college bowl, the<br />
Quick Lane Bowl, which kicked off the inaugural<br />
game in December 2014. The Lions are the only NFL<br />
team to own, host and operate a college football<br />
bowl game.<br />
For the past 11 years, Ford Field has hosted the<br />
MAC Football Championship Game and was the<br />
home for the Little Caesars Bowl from 2002-13.<br />
The NFL has twice called upon the Lions and<br />
the team’s leadership to host a relocated regular<br />
season game with less than five days to prepare.<br />
Last year, a severe snow storm moved the Buffalo<br />
Bills-New York Jets game to Ford Field for a<br />
Monday Night matchup on November 24. In just a<br />
six-day span, Ford Field played host to the Bills-<br />
Jets, the Lions Thanksgiving Day game and eight<br />
MHSAA state football championship games. In<br />
2010, the first example of this unique capability<br />
occurred when the Minnesota Vikings played the<br />
New York Giants at Ford Field on December 13<br />
with less than 20 hours to turn around the facility<br />
after the Lions defeated the eventual Super Bowl<br />
Champion Green Bay Packers, 10-3, the day before.<br />
Commercial development has grown as well<br />
recently at Ford Field with new tenants, such<br />
as Campbell Ewald, an integrated marketing<br />
and advertising agency, and restaurants like The<br />
Breadstick.<br />
SUPER BOWL XL<br />
Ford Field dazzled in 2006 when the city of<br />
Detroit hosted Super Bowl XL. Lewand served as<br />
the point person for the Lions and Ford Field on<br />
the Host Committee for Super Bowl XL, and he was<br />
among the key figures leading the city’s hosting of<br />
the game and events surrounding Super Bowl XL,<br />
which was widely-acclaimed as successful and<br />
critical to Detroit’s future growth. Super Bowl XL<br />
injected an estimated $260 million economic boost<br />
to the Metro Detroit region.<br />
EXECUTIVES AND COACHING
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