OT: Detroit City Council Agrees to New Red Wings Arena Deal
There has been some debate recently about the Wings moving to a new arena, and some of that debate centered around who was paying for it and who was going to build it etc...
This has been an ongoing process and this just furthered that conversation. Detroit City Council voted and a new arena is now very likely.
Highlights from the deal:
Under the land swap deal, the Wings owners would get an additional 37 properties where those lucrative developments could be built, according to city documents.
The 650,000-square-foot, 18,000-seat multipurpose arena is slated to be built on a patch of Woodward, about four blocks north of the Fox Theatre and Comerica Park.
About $367 million, or 56 percent, of the entire project would be paid by private investors. About $283 million, or 44 percent, in public money would come from existing economic development funds, requiring no new taxes.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140204/METRO01/302040069#ixzz2sNpqUnqn
February 4th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
The next step should be to get the Pistons out of Auburn Hills and move into the new arena. 35 minutes from downtown makes no sense. The last time I watched part of a Pistons game it looked like there was about 5,000 people there max. I realize they suck, but there would probably be a least more people there if it wasn't in BFE.
February 4th, 2014 at 5:20 PM ^
The Pistons led the NBA in attendance for several years in the 2000s. I don't think the location is the issue. (Back when the Pistons were downtown, they drew horribly.) Frankly, basketball fans in the Detroit area have always been pretty fairweather.
February 4th, 2014 at 4:35 PM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^
Cobo Arena? Does anyone even remember it was a sports venue? Its biggest claim to fame is probably hosting the Live Bullet concert and the Nancy Kerrigan whack-a-thon.
February 4th, 2014 at 5:17 PM ^
Cobo was very cool. First of all, it was NBA basketball, right in downtown Detroit. When was the last time that happened?
Second, I have some good memories of some good (not great) Pistons teams playing some badass teams back in the day. With Bob Lanier and Dave Bing for the Pistons.
But mostly, confirmation comes from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who is a very cerebral guy away from basketball; a jazz expert, interested in literature and culture). Kareem has always rated Cobo in Detroit as one of the best places to play in the history of the league. Cobo had a fantastic organist, good sound (there is a stage, essentially, at one end), great ambiance and back in the 60's and early 70's, they had fantastic characters in the stands.
February 4th, 2014 at 8:14 PM ^
in mentioning Olympia. JLA, despite good sightlines for fans once you get past all its warts, was and still is a dump compared to Olympia. Now THAT was a great home for hockey!
February 4th, 2014 at 4:53 PM ^
RIP The Joe :(
February 4th, 2014 at 8:51 PM ^
Modern pro sports are all about keeping up with the Joneses, and Hockeytown is no exception. I have to think that a more comfortable and clean viewing atmosphere will help the Wings' consistently sagging attendance--I'm sure that most games are announced as near/sellouts, but a glance at the always large number of empty (dirty, broken-springed, cup holder-less) red seats on TV shows otherwise.