Sports will play role again in Detroit's latest renaissance

Posted on July 22, 2013

Bankruptcy was inevitable. Detroit steered itself into this fiscal predicament through five decades of industrial myopia, political neglect and social divisiveness. And although the city finally admitted it no longer can viably sustain the contractual commitments to its employees and service obligations to its residents, Detroit must remain open for business.

And sports are business.

Their community value is more calculable in emotional treasure than in the number of well-paying jobs spawned. Though not the diverse business footprint essential for restitching a frayed economic fabric, sporting events are nonetheless an important civicinvestment.

It’s even more vital now that the plans for a $650-million sports/entertainment/retail complex near Comerica Park and Ford Field continue — even amid the darkness of bankruptcy. It doesn’t immediately appear that the impending legal fight over Detroit’s debt restructuring will affect the more than $280 million in public monies earmarked for the project. Those are tax dollars specifically targeted for downtown development.

There’s bound to be criticism, because folks have to scream about something. But either Detroit curls up and dies, or it attempts to incrementally rise from the rubble of this national embarrassment.

A new Red Wings arena — with the possibility of the Pistons returning downtown and playing there as well — isn’t an economic panacea. Sports venues never are. Their importance is symbolic, spiritual. If enjoying winning sports in a fan-favorable environment lightens the mood a little and momentarily diverts our attention away from the surrounding corrosive ills, then it’s serving a useful purpose.

After all, what’s more attractive to a baseball free agent? Detroit becoming the biggest U.S. city ever to declare bankruptcy or that the Tigers boast the fifth-highest payroll in baseball in the neighborhood of $150 million?

It’s the latter.

As far as local sports were concerned, the situation was worse four years ago when General Motors and Chrysler went through their bankruptcies. There were genuine worries that one or both could go out of business, further decimating an already declining job market that for more than a half century relied too heavily on the automobile industry.

Nobody knows for sure if Detroit’s fiscal collapse will negatively affect team revenues from ticket sales, luxury suite leasing and stadium advertising signage as was the case in 2009. The Lions issued a statement last week stating they don’t anticipate Detroit’s seeking bankruptcy protection affecting home games at Ford Field this year.

The heightened economic anxiety in 2009 became a rallying cry, further strengthening the connective bond between town and teams. Detroit always has existed vicariously through its sports identity, taking a measure of communal pride from their on-the-field successes that occasionally alleviated some of the sting of the city’s assorted off-the-field maladies.

It’s not coincidental that some of this city’s biggest private sector supporters have a strong sports background — the Ilitch family, racing magnate Roger Penske, Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, who also owns the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and Compuware’s Peter Karmanos, who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.

Sports will have a role in any renaissance. The motto “The city that can’t pay its bills, but can play ball” isn’t exactly what you want to see on Welcome to Detroit signs. But it speaks to how a city clamoring for anything positive can use its valuable sports identity as a means for reminding everyone that Detroit won’t timidly crawl into a corner and fade from existence.