dtones520
Registered User
Sorry if this had been posted here, I didn't see it...
http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2012/12/report_says_detroit_red_wings.html#incart_river
http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2012/12/report_says_detroit_red_wings.html#incart_river
At a time when the Detroit Red Wings are seeking to use taxpayer money to help fund a new arena, a Detroit News story claims that Olympia Entertainment owes the city millions of dollars for cable television rights.
Olympia Entertainment – headed by Red Wings and Tigers owner Mike Ilitch – hasn't paid the city its share of cable TV rights for more than 30 years while also failing to pay the city things like rent, concessions, revenue and property taxes since its lease with Joe Louis Arena expired in 2010, according to the News story.
Under the terms of its lease with Joe Louis and Cobo arenas, Olympia Entertainment must pay the city 25 percent of all cable TV rights.
The property taxes owed are $2.1 million.
The News reported that the cable TV debt could be as much as $70 million although a national sports economist says it could be much lower.
"The Ilitches are a multibillion-dollar operation, and they are inside a city that is sinking," City Councilman Kwame Kenyatta told The News. "(Mike Ilitch), I am sure, knows about this and should be forthcoming to help the city. Help us by writing a check, not by negotiating a new lease."
The Red Wings, who want to replace Joe Louis Arena with a new $650-million multipurpose facility, had no comment.