DETROIT – Hi, and welcome to a Flashpoint on Super Bowl Sunday.
I point that out because whether you’re pulling for the Chiefs or the Eagles, the commercials, or Rihanna -- this has become a singular American event because it is pretty much the closest thing we have to a shared viewing experience. We’re generally quite splintered -- and by no means will everyone be watching tonight, but it does stand alone as a near-communal event. The estimate is that around 100 million people will be tuning in. That’s quite a bit more than the 27 million who tuned in to watch the State of the Union address this past Tuesday night. Compare that to 30 years ago when 70 million people watched the State of the Union address delivered that year by President Clinton. So even that isn’t the shared viewing that it once was.
But we’re going to focus on the State of the Region.
The Detroit Regional Chamber delivered a new report this week, including some very interesting findings, perhaps that Michigan led the nation in bouncing back from the Pandemic. Think about that for a moment, that’s quite an achievement for a state that for so long had the reputation of moving and turning like an aircraft carrier. But the findings also show us the challenges that remain, chief among them finding the people who will power the Michigan of the future. Not easy when a third of your college graduates get their diplomas and then head for the door.
At the same time that report was being presented downtown, a big announcement was being made a few miles north. Henry Ford Health, Michigan State University and the Detroit Pistons are all coming together to create a massive new healthcare complex, one that hopes to make Detroit a medical destination. But it’s much more than a big new hospital.
Read: ‘Incredible investment in our city’: $2.5B Detroit neighborhood redevelopment to begin in 2024
You can view the February 12, 2023, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.