HBO’s John Oliver blasts Red Wings’ new arena; Olympia responds

By @MichaelCaples –

On his HBO show “Last Week Tonight” comedian John Oliver called out professional sports stadiums, suggesting they are big scams ripping off taxpayers.

Roughly three minutes into his monologue, Oliver calls out the construction of the Detroit Red Wings’ new arena, pointing out that a city that had filed for bankruptcy shouldn’t be financing a luxury like a sports stadium with taxpayer money.

You can see the clip below (skip to 2:55 for the Red Wings’ commentary):

Olympia Entertainment, meanwhile, has issued this statement (via Freep.com):

“This project is about so much more than a world-class sports and entertainment arena; it’s about transforming a core part of our city for the benefit of the entire community,” the statement said. “The new Detroit arena and The District Detroit will create 8,300 construction and construction-related jobs, as well as at least 1,100 permanent jobs. To date, the Detroit Downtown Development Authority has approved nine contracts worth $121 million, of which Detroit-based and -headquartered businesses have won more than 88% — or $106 million. Initiatives of this size, scope and impact — $1.8 billion dollars for our city, region and state — are almost universally public-private partnerships. The majority of this development is being privately financed, and no City of Detroit general funds are involved whatsoever.”

It should also be worth noting, as well, that according to a question-and-answer feature on Freep.com last year, the tax money for the construction of the arena is coming from the State of Michigan, not Detroit.

You can see that Q-and-A here.

What are your thoughts on the issue? Tell us on Facebook or Twitter. We’re staying away from a political stance on the issue, but from a hockey sense, we’re pretty excited, because it’s going to mean a whole lot for the sport and the state as a whole. A new arena means new opportunities for events like the NHL All-Star Game, the IIHF World Juniors, bigger college hockey tournaments, etc. …all things that that will add to Detroit and Michigan’s well-being (and certainly help financially).