Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions
Current season
Established July 12, 1930 (July 12, 1930)[1]
First season: 1930
Play in Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan
Headquartered in Allen Park, Michigan
Detroit Lions logo
Detroit Lions logo
Detroit Lions wordmark
Detroit Lions wordmark
LogoWordmark
League/conference affiliations

National Football League (1930–present)

Current uniform
Team colorsHonolulu blue, silver, dark steel grey, white[2][3][4]
       
Fight songGridiron Heroes
MascotRoary the Lion
Personnel
Owner(s)Sheila Ford Hamp[5]
ChairmanSheila Ford Hamp
PresidentRod Wood
General managerBrad Holmes
Head coachDan Campbell
Team history
Championships
League championships (4)
Conference championships (4)
Division championships (5)
Playoff appearances (19)
Home fields

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team plays their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.

The franchise was founded in Portsmouth, Ohio as the Portsmouth Spartans and joined the NFL on July 12, 1930.[1] Amid financial struggles, the franchise was relocated to Detroit in 1934 and renamed the Lions in reference to the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, the Detroit Tigers.[6][7]

The Lions won four NFL Championship Games between 1935 and 1957. Following the 1957 championship, the franchise did not win a playoff game until the 1991 season and did not win another until the 2023 season. They are the only franchise operational for the entirety of the Super Bowl era to not appear in the Super Bowl.[8][9][10]

  1. ^ a b "Detroit Lions Team Facts". ProFootballHOF.com. NFL Enterprises. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  2. ^ "Detroit Lions statement regarding rebranding". DetroitLions.com. NFL Enterprises. February 1, 2017. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  3. ^ "Lions Visual Identity" (PDF). 2023 Detroit Lions Media Guide (PDF). NFL Enterprises. Retrieved November 13, 2023. On Feb. 1, 2017 the Lions once again updated the team's logo and typeface as part of a rebranding initiative that also included four new uniform options. The updated logo and typeface includes the removal of black from the brand identity, emphasizing the team's class color combination of Honolulu blue and silver that has been synonymous with the Detroit Lions since 1934.
  4. ^ "Detroit Lions Team Capsule" (PDF). 2022 Official National Football League Record and Fact Book (PDF). NFL Enterprises. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  5. ^ "Martha Firestone Ford to step down as principal owner of Detroit Lions". DetroitLions.com. NFL Enterprises. June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  6. ^ Barnett, C. Robert (1980). "THE PORTSMOUTH SPARTANS" (PDF). Professional Football Researchers Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  7. ^ Holmes, Dan (March 13, 2015). "How the Tigers, Lions, Red Wings, and Pistons got their names". Vintage Detroit. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  8. ^ Caldwell, Dave (February 1, 2019). "Meet The NFL Team That Might Never Make It To A Super Bowl". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  9. ^ Carroll, Charlotte (February 3, 2019). "What Teams Have Never Won the Super Bowl?". SI.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  10. ^ Barringer, Daisy (January 2, 2019). "21 Football Facts to Fake Your Super Bowl Street Cred". Eventbrite. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.