SteelCityMan786
06-24-2009, 12:40 PM
They might also loser their team to.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090624/METRO/906240356/Future-of-The-Joe-uncertain-as-Red-Wings-consider-move
Future of The Joe uncertain as Red Wings consider move
Owners face Tuesday deadline to extend lease or leave arena
David Josar / The Detroit News
Detroit --The playoffs are over, but the Red Wings could be girding for another battle, as owners have until Tuesday to inform the city whether they'll leave Joe Louis Arena or extend by 20 years a lease that's helped make the team one of the richest in the league.
Negotiations between top city officials, led by representatives of the quasi-government Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and Olympia Entertainment have been in ongoing for several years, but neither the city nor the Ilitch family that owns the team will divulge details.
The Red Wings enjoy what is considered the best lease arrangement of any NHL team at Joe Louis. Olympia Entertainment leases the hockey arena, Cobo Arena and an adjacent parking structure for $475,000 a year, while the city tosses in free police protection, landscaping and snow removal.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, by comparison, will make an annual payment of $4.2 million when they move to the state-of-the-art Consol Energy Center next year.
Karen Cullen, the spokeswoman for Ilitch Holdings Inc., the central business entity of Mike and Marian Ilitch's empire that includes the hockey team, the Detroit Tigers and Little Caesars Pizza, wrote in a statement that "our organization is continuing to study all options, including the remodel of (Joe Louis Arena) and the construction of a new arena."
George Jackson, the city's group executive for economic development, declined to discuss the situation. A spokeswoman for the mayor, Meagan Pitts, said the parties are still negotiating and a statement "hopefully" will come soon.
The lease -- inked in 1978 when former owner Bruce Norris threatened to move to the suburbs -- has been criticized by several council members for being too generous to owners. Mike Ilitch bought the team four years later for $8 million.
"We should be helping good corporate citizens, not someone who is just interested in how much money they make," Councilwoman JoAnn Watson has said about the agreement.
One hint the Ilitch family may consider a new facility came from Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, who confirmed the county, which had a hand in putting together deals to build Ford Field and Comerica Park, has been approached about financing assistance.
"We're open to options to help them stay here," said Ficano, who declined to give specifics. "We want to do everything we can to keep the Red Wings here."
Speculation whether the Wings will move has intensified recently as the Ilitch family has accumulated land behind their Fox Theatre they are using for parking lots.
With a deadline drawing near to make a decision on where the team will play in 2010, the Red Wings are in a quandary, experts on hockey venues say.
Joe Louis does not have the revenue-generating features of the new "mega-arenas," but the sagging economy makes it difficult to secure financing for a new home for the Red Wings.
"Joe Louis does not have the luxury boxes and the super suites and the private clubs of the newest venues," said Kevin Reichard, senior editor of arenas.com, which tracks the business-side of the NHL. "If the team had that, they could become even more of a money machine."
Jason R. Thompson, a senior project manager for Brailsford & Dunlavey, a facility planning company in Washington, D.C., said the decision on where the hockey franchise plays will come to a single issue.
"This really comes down to money -- where the team can get the most revenue and the best price," said Thompson, who studied at the University of Detroit-Mercy, where he regularly took in Red Wings games and knows first-hand the sight-line issue and lack of amenities in Joe Louis.
The Red Wings could try to build a facility without government help but that is difficult, Reichard said, although this team may be an exception.
"Mike Ilitch has assets that could be used as collateral," Reichard said, pointing toward the Detroit Tigers as well as the Little Caesars empire.
When Ilitch was spurring local leaders to help finance what would eventually become Comerica Park, he threatened moving the Tigers but any threat of that now is unlikely.
"Where is he going to move the Red Wings?" Reichard said. "Detroit is Hockeytown. The only possibility is the suburbs of Toronto and that is not going to happen."
If the Red Wings extend the contract, a decision that is the team's alone, the city could no longer tack on up to a 10 percent surcharge on tickets to games and events that accounted for $3 million in revenue last year.
Also Detroit would no longer get a cut of concessions and suite rentals. Olympia Entertainment would lose up to $1 million in annual tax breaks. The amount of tax liability is written into the lease deal.
I don't understand. Detroit faces a huge economic mess right now and a New Arena or a Renovation of The Joe could be bring in countless jobs for the Area.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090624/METRO/906240356/Future-of-The-Joe-uncertain-as-Red-Wings-consider-move
Future of The Joe uncertain as Red Wings consider move
Owners face Tuesday deadline to extend lease or leave arena
David Josar / The Detroit News
Detroit --The playoffs are over, but the Red Wings could be girding for another battle, as owners have until Tuesday to inform the city whether they'll leave Joe Louis Arena or extend by 20 years a lease that's helped make the team one of the richest in the league.
Negotiations between top city officials, led by representatives of the quasi-government Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and Olympia Entertainment have been in ongoing for several years, but neither the city nor the Ilitch family that owns the team will divulge details.
The Red Wings enjoy what is considered the best lease arrangement of any NHL team at Joe Louis. Olympia Entertainment leases the hockey arena, Cobo Arena and an adjacent parking structure for $475,000 a year, while the city tosses in free police protection, landscaping and snow removal.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, by comparison, will make an annual payment of $4.2 million when they move to the state-of-the-art Consol Energy Center next year.
Karen Cullen, the spokeswoman for Ilitch Holdings Inc., the central business entity of Mike and Marian Ilitch's empire that includes the hockey team, the Detroit Tigers and Little Caesars Pizza, wrote in a statement that "our organization is continuing to study all options, including the remodel of (Joe Louis Arena) and the construction of a new arena."
George Jackson, the city's group executive for economic development, declined to discuss the situation. A spokeswoman for the mayor, Meagan Pitts, said the parties are still negotiating and a statement "hopefully" will come soon.
The lease -- inked in 1978 when former owner Bruce Norris threatened to move to the suburbs -- has been criticized by several council members for being too generous to owners. Mike Ilitch bought the team four years later for $8 million.
"We should be helping good corporate citizens, not someone who is just interested in how much money they make," Councilwoman JoAnn Watson has said about the agreement.
One hint the Ilitch family may consider a new facility came from Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, who confirmed the county, which had a hand in putting together deals to build Ford Field and Comerica Park, has been approached about financing assistance.
"We're open to options to help them stay here," said Ficano, who declined to give specifics. "We want to do everything we can to keep the Red Wings here."
Speculation whether the Wings will move has intensified recently as the Ilitch family has accumulated land behind their Fox Theatre they are using for parking lots.
With a deadline drawing near to make a decision on where the team will play in 2010, the Red Wings are in a quandary, experts on hockey venues say.
Joe Louis does not have the revenue-generating features of the new "mega-arenas," but the sagging economy makes it difficult to secure financing for a new home for the Red Wings.
"Joe Louis does not have the luxury boxes and the super suites and the private clubs of the newest venues," said Kevin Reichard, senior editor of arenas.com, which tracks the business-side of the NHL. "If the team had that, they could become even more of a money machine."
Jason R. Thompson, a senior project manager for Brailsford & Dunlavey, a facility planning company in Washington, D.C., said the decision on where the hockey franchise plays will come to a single issue.
"This really comes down to money -- where the team can get the most revenue and the best price," said Thompson, who studied at the University of Detroit-Mercy, where he regularly took in Red Wings games and knows first-hand the sight-line issue and lack of amenities in Joe Louis.
The Red Wings could try to build a facility without government help but that is difficult, Reichard said, although this team may be an exception.
"Mike Ilitch has assets that could be used as collateral," Reichard said, pointing toward the Detroit Tigers as well as the Little Caesars empire.
When Ilitch was spurring local leaders to help finance what would eventually become Comerica Park, he threatened moving the Tigers but any threat of that now is unlikely.
"Where is he going to move the Red Wings?" Reichard said. "Detroit is Hockeytown. The only possibility is the suburbs of Toronto and that is not going to happen."
If the Red Wings extend the contract, a decision that is the team's alone, the city could no longer tack on up to a 10 percent surcharge on tickets to games and events that accounted for $3 million in revenue last year.
Also Detroit would no longer get a cut of concessions and suite rentals. Olympia Entertainment would lose up to $1 million in annual tax breaks. The amount of tax liability is written into the lease deal.
I don't understand. Detroit faces a huge economic mess right now and a New Arena or a Renovation of The Joe could be bring in countless jobs for the Area.