Ilitch-Lites' father, Mike, owns the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers. Rather than spend money on a team that is not winning or on a Broadway play that is not a hit, people would rather just eat out. People won't sit in row four of the end zone any more. Tisch said that the greatest threat to pro sports is free agency. Free agency hurts sports terribly.
Players can leave after four years.
People don't realize that rebuilding in an urban area is much more costly than building in a suburban cornfield. You need significant government involvement if you just want to break even in urban areas. Virtually all the owners agreed that cities would have to collaborate with team owners if urban stadiums were to succeed. Cities benefit indirectly from stadiums in terms of jobs and city amenities, so they should help finance them, Wilpon argued. A member of the audience asked Ilitch-Lites, the only woman on the panel, about the climate of pro sports for women.