Little
Caesars
Arena
was the
final
piece in
positioning
Detroit
as a
player
in the
competitive
sports/entertainment world.
(Photo
from
Ilitch
Sports/Entertainment) |
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Related
Companies,
Olympia
Development
of
Michigan
(ODM)
and the
City of
Detroit
announced
plans to
begin an
extensive
Community
Benefits
Ordinance
(CBO)
process
for a
multi-building
development
in The
District
Detroit.
The CBO
process
marks
the next
phase of
plans to
build
new
residential
with
affordable
housing,
new
office,
retail,
hotel,
and
public
space
across
10
properties
in The
District
Detroit,
aimed at
attracting
and
retaining
talent
and
inclusive
economic
development
in
Detroit
and
Michigan.
(Rendering
from
Ilitch
Sports/Entertainment) |
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In the
Game:
The
Motor
City
establishes
itself
as a
walkable
sports/entertainment
venue
By
Leland
Stein
III
International
Syndicated
Sports
Columnist,
Special
to Tell
Us USA
News
Network
DETROIT
– The
dream of
a
viable,
walkable,
Detroit
sports/entertainment
district
has
manifest
itself
into a
reality
for the
Downtown
Development
Authority.
This
past
Saturday,
when the
Michigan
State
University
Spartans
(5-5)
contested
the
undefeated,
No. 6
ranked
Baylor
Bears at
the
Continental
Tires
Motor
City
Invitational
played
at
Little
Caesars
Arena, I
tested
the
dream of
a
walkable
sports
entertainment
district.
Comerica
Park and
Ford
Field
lit up
for the
late
Saturday
night
NFL
game.
(Photo
by
Leland
Stein
III)
After
witnessing
the
Spartans
surprisingly
dismantle
Baylor
88-64
before a
raucous
13,277,
then
sitting
in on
coach
Tom
Izzo’s
animated
post-game
press
conference,
next
running
into
Barry
Sanders
& his
entire
family,
and,
Steve
Smith
outside
MSU’s
locker
room in
LCA’s
tunnel .
. .
finally,
just
three
hours
later I
started
my walk
down
Woodward
toward
the Fox
theater.
Woodward
was full
with
people
leaving
LCA and
those
coming
to Ford
Field to
witness
a hot
Denver
Broncos
team
contest
a
slumping
Detroit
Lions
team
that had
lost two
of its
last
three
games.
As I
walked
through
the mass
of Lions
fans, I
could
hear and
see many
were in
worried
anticipation
of which
Lions’
squad
would
show up
for this
critical
contest
for
playoff
positioning.
Getting
closer
to Ford
Field,
Izzo’s
post-game
projection
that
“maybe
this
(his
team’s
victory)
will
carryover
across
the
street,”
was
ringing
in my
ear.
Leland
Stein,
Barry
Sanders
and
Steve
Smith at
LCA.
(Photo
by
Lauren
Sanders)
On that
day in
the
Motor
City,
the
Lions
indeed
reawakened
and
produced
one of
its most
complete
games in
a month,
with a
thorough
42-17
thrashing
over a
Denver
team
that had
won six
of its
last
seven
games.
In spite
of the
Motor
City’s
long
flirt
with
negative
financial
and
economic
woes
that has
became a
part of
our
City’s
history,
always
in there
fighting
were
those
that saw
through
the
negative
haze and
seized
the
opportunity
to
create.
Championed
by the
Detroit
Economic
Growth
Corp and
the
Downtown
Development
Authority,
after
years of
dreaming
big and
planning
smart,
plans
turned
into
action
and the
vision
of a
sports
entertainment
district
started
to bear
fruit.
W.
Columbia
Street
all
aglow.
(Photo
by
Leland
Stein
III)
Starting
in 2000
with the
opening
of
Comerica
Park,
followed
by the
opening
of Ford
Field in
2002,
and
finally,
when
Little
Caesars
Arena
opened
in 2017,
the
walkable
sports
entertainment
district’s
foundation
became
solidly
rooted.
With all
three
facilities
right
near or
on
Woodward
Avenue,
Motown
became
the only
city in
the
country
that has
four of
its
professional
sports
teams
playing
around
the
corner
from
each
other in
its
downtown
– Red
Wings
(NHL),
Pistons
(NBA),
Lions
(NFL)
and
Tigers
(MLB).
Add in
the
annual
Indy Car
Racing
Circuit’s
return
to
downtown
from
Belle
Isle in
2023,
and, the
PGA’s
Rocket
Mortgage
Classic
playing
in the
City up
Woodward
at the
Detroit
Golf
Club,
the
Motor
City, as
much as
a
cold-weather
city
can, has
surely
positioned
itself
as a
viable
sports
entertainment
destination.
Many of
Detroit’s
concerned
citizens
implored
our
neighborhoods
and
schools
need
special
attention
too,
and,
rightfully
so.
However,
the
dynamics
of inner
cities
in
America
are a
national
problem
of
economics,
segregation,
employment,
shifting
population,
and old
infrastructure.
Fox
brought
Jim
Jackson
and
Detroit’s
Gus
Johnson
to
broadcast
MSU vs.
Baylor.
(Photo
by
Leland
Stein
III)
One
problem
is no
reason
to hold
up
another
potential
uplift.
I have
covered
sporting
events
in both
San
Antonio
and
Indianapolis,
and, I
have
seen how
each
implemented
the
model of
building
all
their
sports
venues
in a
walkable
proximity.
In
conjunction
with the
arenas
and
stadiums
. . .
hotels,
eateries
and
housing
evolved.
Take the
Los
Angeles
Staples
Center —
renamed
the
Crypto.com
Arena —
for
example.
I was in
living
in LA
and
covering
the
Clippers,
Lakers
and
Kings
when the
developers
started
building
the
arena,
and,
many
screamed
“we
don’t
need it
and that
it was a
waste of
money
and
resources.”
Well,
the
Lakers,
Clippers
and
Kings
after
seeing
the new
venue
quickly
abandon
the
famous
Great
Western
Forum.
The
Crypto.com
Arena
has now
become
LA’s
linchpin
and has
galvanized
a
three-block
district
– that
has
turned
into
10-blocks
– called
LA Live
that has
clubs,
restaurants,
theaters,
and
hotels.
Ford
Field
bustling
with
activity.
(Photo
by
Leland
Stein
III)
That LA
downtown
area
before
the
Crypto.com
Arena
and LA
Live
were
built
was a
waste
land of
poverty.
Sounds
familiar?
Detroit’s
Cass
Corridor
had
similar
concerns
as LA.
Truth be
told,
everything
originally
proposed
in the
aggressive
LCA
pre-planning
has not
all come
to
fruition;
however,
no one
can
argue
with the
new
venues
and real
energy
happening
around
this
walkable
sports
entertainment
district.
Facts
are, a
few
cities
have
already
shown us
how a
mid-major
city can
use the
sports
entertainment
model to
re-galvanize
a
downtown
and
city.
“It’s
always
been my
dream to
once
again
see a
vibrant
downtown
Detroit,”
Mike
Ilitch,
chairman
of
Ilitch
Holdings,
told
reporters
in 2012.
“From
the time
we
bought
the Fox
Theatre,
I could
envision
a
downtown
where
the
streets
were
bustling
and
people
were
energized.
It has
been a
slow
process
at
times,
but
we’re
getting
there
now and
a lot of
great
people
are
coming
together
to make
it
happen.
It is
going to
happen
and I
want to
keep us
moving
toward
that
vision.”
The
Spartans
discuss
strategy.
(Photo
by
Leland
Stein
III)
A little
more
than
10-years
later,
Little
Caesars
Arena
has
indeed
injected
an extra
shot of
adrenaline
from
Brush
Park to
Martin
Luther
King
Blvd to
Cass
Ave. to
Fisher
Service
Dr and
into
downtown.
Indeed,
sports
and
walkable
entertainment
collectively
are the
new
model to
ensure a
city’s
rotation
in
hosting
the
mega-sporting
events.
About 10
somethings
years
ago, I
wrote a
column
in the
Michigan
Chronicle
beseeching
and
cajoling
Detroit’s
movers
and
shakers
to seek
to make
the
Motor
City a
national
sports
entertainment
player –
competing
for
concerts,
Super
Bowl,
Final
Four,
NCAA
regionals,
NBA and
NHL
All-Star
Weekends.
Spartan
cheerleaders
pump up
the
crowd.
(Photo
by
Leland
Stein
III)
I think
Ilitch
and the
Ford
family
saw what
I saw in
those
two
smaller
cities
that
were
both
seeking
to
redefine
themselves.
Each
city
recognized
and
acknowledged
the
walkable
sports
entertainment
future
direction
and took
massive
steps to
regenerate
themselves
in that
genre.
Detroit
has
indeed
positioned
itself
as a
real
player
in the
mega-dollar
sports
entertainment
world.
Having
already
hosted
two
Super
Bowls,
the
Motor
City
will
also
host its
second
Final
Four at
Ford
Field in
2027,
NCAA
Midwest
Regional
in 2024,
and the
NFL
Draft
will
also
bring
anywhere
from
300,000
to
500,000
people
to
Detroit
in 2024
leaving
a
projected
200
million
in the
city.
Also,
earlier
in
November
of 2023,
Michigan
State
football
played
its
season
ending
BigTen
game
downtown
versus
Penn
State at
Ford
Field.
San
Antonio
and
Indianapolis,
have
modeled
how a
city can
interject
new
energy
and life
into a
decaying
downtown.
Unlike
those
other
two
cities,
Motown
has all
four
professional
sports
franchises,
and,
they are
in
walking
distance
from
each
other.
Philadelphia
has all
four of
their
pro
franchises
playing
in two
stadiums
and an
arena
connected
all in
the same
area;
however,
the
facilities
are in
South
Philly
and not
downtown.
The
Motor’s
next
move
should
be to
push the
BigTen
to
rotate
their
football
and
basketball
conference
title
games to
Ford
Field
and LCA
–
presently
both are
contested
only in
Indianapolis,
why?
(Excerpts
from
Michigan
Chronicle
in 2012
are
included
in this
story)
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