Ilitch Holdings described an HBO "Real Sports" segment that highlighted still-unfulfilled promises to build five new neighborhoods around Little Caesars Arena as "inaccurate and sensationalized," according to Louis Aguilar of the DETROIT NEWS. Ilitch Holdings VP/Corporate Communications Shawn Platt in a statement said, "It is unfortunate when a media outlet emphasizes the voices of the critical few and not the voices of many who would present the positive story that is taking place across our City." An HBO spokesperson said that the show's team "worked on the segment for more than one year and the Ilitch group repeatedly declined to be interviewed." HBO said, "We stand by our reporting" (DETROIT NEWS, 4/25). In Detroit, Bill Shea noted after the segment aired, Ilitch Holdings "defended its use of tax subsidies to build Little Caesars Arena and the progress of its The District Detroit development." The organization's statement touted "thousands of jobs" and the "restoration of various historic buildings, and the development of a downtown sports and entertainment district which has surged since the opening of Little Caesars Arena" (CRAINSDETROIT.com, 4/24).
DIVING DEEP: HBO "Real Sports" correspondent David Scott said while Little Caesars Arena has been “considered a smashing success” since it opened in '17, it provides "little consolation to the arena’s still suffering neighbors because while the public paid for much of the building, the city receives none of the revenue it generates." HBO examined the deal the city of Detroit gave the Ilitch family to help build the arena, and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said, "All I saw was a really bad decision based on the needs of one family, one company." Scott said Tlaib had “argued against the Ilitch’s master plan” because it would cost taxpayers more than $300M. Scott: "It wasn’t just how much the Ilitch’s project would cost the public, but where exactly government officials were proposing to find all that money: in a fund that had been set aside to help save Detroit’s long-suffering public schools." Scott noted over the last 20 years, the Ilitches and their subsidiary companies have purchased “approximately 100 properties and land parcels in the neighborhood." However, he also noted the District Detroit project has "failed to produce a single house, apartment or hotel room to date, with little active progress in sight" (“Real Sports,” HBO, 4/23).
