2015 DETROIT LIONS MEDIA GUIDE

OTHER SHINING MOMENTS
Behind Lewand’s leadership, Ford Field once
again stepped to the forefront in April 2009
as Detroit, for the first time, hosted the NCAA
Men’s Basketball Final Four. The championship
culminated six years of planning, including Lewand
representing the organization in a partnership
with the NCAA to present the Final Four in a
groundbreaking manner that has set the standard
for all future sites.
The event featured a first for the Final Four—a
center-stadium elevated playing floor configuration
that allowed for the utilization of all stadium seats.
The evolutional 2009 Ford Field model has since
become the standard for all stadiums hosting
Final Fours.
The 2009 Final Four also saw Ford Field break
long-standing records, including: attendance for
the practice session on Final Four Friday (nearly
30,000), the National Semifinals (72,456) and
National Championship game (72,992). Overall,
a record 145,378 fans attended the Final Four.
By hosting the Final Four, Ford Field was the
centerpiece for a weekend that had an estimated
$30-50 million impact on the city of Detroit and
the metro area.
Attendance records were not only set inside Ford
Field, but also at ancillary events, such as Hoops
City at the Cobo Hall Convention Center. All of
these events generated a tremendous opportunity
for both residents and visitors to enjoy downtown
Detroit over a five-day period.
Paced by Lewand’s leadership, the organization
followed up that tremendous accomplishment
with the highly successful hosting of the 2010
Men’s Hockey Frozen Four. Like the basketball
championship, Ford Field allowed the NCAA to
elevate one of its marquee events to even greater
heights.
For the first time, the 2010 Frozen Four was
held in a large-stadium venue with the portable
ice configuration set-up used in the NHL’s annual
Winter Classic. The championship garnered record
crowds (34,954 for the National Semifinals and
37,592 for the National Championship) that set
NCAA Frozen Four records and world indoor hockey
records.
Ford Field became the first venue to host the
Men’s Final Four and the Men’s Frozen Four in
back-to-back years.
In June 2011, Ford Field hosted the opening
round of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup with two
soccer matches between Panama and Guadeloupe
and the United States and Canada. The opening
round match was the first soccer game played by
the U.S. Men’s National Team in the Metro Detroit
area since the World Cup in 1994, and it drew the
largest crowd (28,209) for a U.S. match in the Gold
Cup opening round since 2003.
In addition to marquee sporting events, Ford
Field has become one of the nation’s outstanding
entertainment venues by providing a large-scale
audience with the intimate feel of much smaller
arenas.
Since 2002, some of the music industry’s most
popular superstars have played in front of sell-out
crowds, including the Rolling Stones, Eminem,
Madonna, Kid Rock, Kenney Chesney (seven
times), Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift (three times), Justin
Timberlake & Jay-Z and One Direction. This year
is perhaps Ford Field’s most aggressive concert
schedule with Swift, Chesney, One Direction, AC/
DC and Luke Bryan all scheduled to headline acts.
Additionally, in April 2007 Ford Field hosted
WWE’s Wrestlemania 23 that set a new Ford Field
all-events attendance record (80,103) and had a
$25 million impact on the Metro Detroit area.
A “LEADER AND BEST”
Lewand possesses a strong educational
background, having received a Bachelor of Arts
degree from the University of Michigan in 1991,
and completing both his Juris Doctor at the
University of Michigan Law School and Master in
Business Administration from the University of
Michigan Business School in 1996. Lewand aided
the Michigan football program in various capacities
on a volunteer basis while attending the school.
He also worked for the Lions on a part-time basis
while completing work on his graduate degrees.
In 1991, Lewand served as an environmental
advisor for the Governor of Indiana, Evan Bayh.
Following a year in that position, he entered
graduate school at Michigan. He spent time working
for the law firm of Dickinson Wright in Detroit, and
the Chicago law firm of Kirkland and Ellis. In the
summer of 1993, he worked in the White House
in the Counsel’s Office for Presidential Personnel.
Lewand’s family history is entrenched in the
Detroit area community. His father, F. Thomas
Lewand, now serves on the staff of newly-elected
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan as group executive
for jobs and economic growth. He worked as an
attorney for 43 years and was both the Chief of
Staff for former Governor James Blanchard and
the Chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party. His
late grandfather, Joseph B. Sullivan, was a judge in
the Michigan Court of Appeals and was the deputy
mayor of Detroit in the 1960s.
OFF THE FIELD
Lewand is active in the community, acting as
Past Chairman of the Detroit Metro Convention
and Visitors Bureau and serving on the Boards
of Directors of the Detroit Zoological Society,
the Downtown Detroit Partnership, the Detroit
Economic Growth Corporation and the Parade
Company.
In a collaborative effort to reduce and prevent
youth sports concussions, Lewand represented
the Lions and the organization’s work with
Michigan legislators, the NFL and various youth
sports organizations to pass state laws that have
implemented concussion education and awareness
programs along with a medical protocol for young
athletes to return to action.
Lewand also is on the Corporate Advisory Board
for the University of Michigan’s Ross School of
Business. Lewand was named as one of Crain’s
Detroit Business “40 Under 40” in 1998, which
honored and recognized 40 top business people in
the Detroit area under the age of 40. Lewand was
recognized nationally twice, in 2003 and 2005, by
the Sports Business Journal as one of the top “40
Under 40” sports executives in the United States.
He and his wife, Suzanne, have four daughters:
Cayleigh, Paige, Shannon and Erin.
DETROIT LIONS
EXECUTIVES AND COACHING