A tour of Little Caesars Arena gives the "sense that the fans will be right on top" of the future playing surface of the Red Wings and Pistons, according to Vince Ellis of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. The atmosphere is "created by overhang seating, with the seating heading straight up, instead of seats spreading outward away from the ice or court." Olympia Entertainment President & CEO Tom Wilson said that the idea was "borrowed" from the Canadiens’ Bell Centre after Red Wings Exec VP & GM Ken Holland "called it 'the most intimidating place in all of hockey.'" Wilson "described a lower bowl" that will seat 9,000 for hockey and 11,000 for basketball. The arena will "seat under 20,000 for hockey games, but more than that for basketball games and concerts." Wilson also "described the Players Club, an area a short distance away from the Red Wings’ locker room." From there, fans will be "able to see players walk through, heading to the ice" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/13). Wilson said that the arena scoreboard "will be the largest" in the NHL with video boards that will "be the same size along the sideboards and behind the nets." The AP's Larry Lage noted there are seating sections that "seem suspended from the ceiling, looming over steeply pitched sections below them." That idea was "born after a scouting trip" to MSG. Wilson: "We'll have the finest acoustics of any arena this size in the country" (AP, 6/12).
EXTRA TOPPINGS: In Detroit, Ted Kulfan writes the experience of attending a game "will be different" than that of Joe Louis Arena or The Palace of Auburn Hills. Going to a game at Little Caesars "will be similar to big city arenas" in Boston, DC, Dallas or L.A., where fans "get a taste of the city, and enjoy the atmosphere surrounding the area, before entering the arena." Little Caesars Arena will "have six restaurants associated with the arena, and there are more than 100 eateries have been built in the last two years either downtown or Midtown" (DETROIT NEWS, 6/13).
