Venue Detail
Detroit Red Wings
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
February, 2012
Detroit Red Wings
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600 Civic Center Dr Detroit, MI 48226-4419 Phone: 313-396-7444 Fax: 313-396-7998 URL: www.detroitredwings.com Owner: Michael and Marian Ilitch League: National Hockey League, Conference C
Venue
Joe Louis Sports Arena, 600 Civic Center Dr, Detroit, MI 48226-4487 Owner: City of Detroit Managed by: Olympia Arenas Inc. Built: 1979 Capacity: 19,275 Permanent concession stands: 31 Concessionaire: Olympia Entertainment Hospitality Suite caterer: Olympia Entertainment Hospitality Soft drink: Coca Cola Beer: Multiple
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $1,295 to $2,072 Single tickets range from $15.00 to $200.00
Attendance
2009 average attendance: 18,828 2010 average attendance: 19,546 2011 average attendance: 19,680
Suites
Quantity: 83 Term: 1 to 5 years Price: $125,000 to $190,000 Seats: 20 to 35 Includes: Tickets for all Red Wings regular games, other events, membership in private dinner club. Party suites lease for $4,200 to $5,400.
Club seats
Quantity: 232 Term: 3 to 3 years Price: $6,900 to $6,900
Financing
The $34 million venue was funded with public money.
Michael and Marian Ilitch, who own the NFL Detroit Tigers and the NHL Detroit Red Wings and rent Cobo Arena and Joe Louis Arena through their Olympic Entertainment company. The facilities, which are owned by the City of Detroit, were renovated when the Ilitches bought the team in 1982. In 2001, the Illitch's teams were joined by the ABA Dogs.
The Detroit Red Wings have high revenues, generated largely from the rental of the 83 luxury suites in the Joe Louis Sports Arena. There are no club seats in the arena.
But Crain’s Detroit Business says the Detroit Red Wings could see an additional $5 million to $8 million in new revenue for a couple of seasons, which would settle to about $5 million yearly at a modern arena that replaces Joe Louis Arena.
That's a casual estimate from University of Michigan sports business professor Rodney Fort that was given to Crain’s.
The Ilitch family declined to renew the Detroit Red Wings' lease at aging city-owned Joe Louis Arena, and a year since it expired.
The team has operated under undisclosed terms at the venue while the Ilitches continue to both negotiate a new lease and advance plans to build a modern arena elsewhere in the city – a strategic moved expected to generate millions in new income for the Red Wings through luxury suites and other amenities.
It's believed the Ilitches want a shorter deal at Joe Louis that would allow the team an easy exit so it can move to a new, modern arena that could be built on Ilitch-owned land in one of three speculated locations: the Foxtown area, between Grand River and Cass avenues south of I-75, or west of Woodward Avenue north of I-75.
A new hockey venue is estimated to cost $300 million to $400 million. The family has discussed potential public financing with the city and with Wayne County.
In 2007, the team opened the Legends Club which can accommodate 115 Wings watchers. Each seat costs $6,500 for the season, compared with the private corporate boxes offered at Joe Louis for around $125,000 per season.
John Hahn, Red Wings senior director of communications, said the Legends Club was based on a similar offering at Comerica Park called the Chevrolet Champions Club, which debuted in 2006.
At the Joe Louis Legends Club, ticket holders get a prime, unobstructed view of the action on the ice. The seats are wide, well-cushioned and boast cup holders and lots of leg room.
The price of a seat also comes with a buffet-style meal prepared by Joe Louis chefs – the same cooks who prepare the catered meals for the luxury suites – and nonalcoholic beverages from the aptly-named Captain's Bar, which is adorned with pictures of Red Wings captains from Art Duncan to Nicklas Lidstrom. Alcoholic drinks are extra.
Officials with Olympia Entertainment are reviewing the potential of Joe Louis Arena to determine if it makes sense to renovate the building or build an entirely new venue. As part of that planning, the team decided to reopen lease talks with Detroit about remaining in Joe Louis Arena rather than push for a new venue right way.
Olympia Entertainment says it will forgo an option to automatically renew its lease and owner Mike Ilitch will likely negotiate a shorter-term lease.
While the current lease doesn't expire until June 30, 2010, the terms of the agreement required Olympia to notify the city of its intentions a year in advance.
Speculation has run rampant for at least the past three years about whether the Red Wings would seek to renovate Joe Louis or build an arena elsewhere. Analysts have estimated that renovations of Joe Louis could cost as much as $180 million and a new arena could cost more than $300 million.
Completed in 1979, Joe Louis doesn't have the amenities of more modern sports arenas. Olympia was not the owner of the Red Wings when the original lease was signed in 1979.
Joe Louis Arena opened on the Detroit riverfront after former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young built it to keep the Red Wings from moving to Oakland County. The team was under different ownership at the time. Joe Louis is the fifth-oldest arena in the National Hockey League. A new facility would bring the Wings at least $10 million in additional revenue each year from naming rights and luxury box sales alone. (Facilities, Financial, Ice Hockey, NHLNHL, Professional Sports)