Little Caesars Arena is a multi-purpose building in Midtown Detroit. It opened in September 2017 and cost $862.9 million to build. The arena now serves as the home for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), replacing Joe Louis Arena and The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The arena includes a special, clear plastic-covered walkway that connects it to nearby offices and shops. It was designed to be the main building in a new $2.1 billion sports and entertainment district called The District Detroit. This area would include homes, stores, and offices near the Cass Corridor, Ford Field, and Comerica Park. However, this plan has not yet been completed.
Design
Little Caesars Arena was designed by HOK and has a unique layout called "deconstructed." Buildings that include stores, restaurants, the arena's ticket office, and the offices of the Red Wings are built outside the arena. A glass roof connects these buildings to the arena, creating an indoor "street" that acts as the arena's concourse. This concourse stays open all year, even when no event is happening inside, making it usable as a separate space. An outdoor plaza with a large video screen is also part of the arena.
The arena is eight stories tall and shaped like a bowl. Its floor is 40 feet (12 meters) below street level. It can seat 19,515 people for ice hockey games and 20,332 for basketball games. Above the main seating area, there is a "gondola" level with additional seats. The outside of the bowl can show video projections. Inside, there is a 37,300-square-foot (3,470-square-meter) practice ice rink. This rink is used by the Red Wings, the Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club, and the Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League.
The Bell Centre in Montreal influenced the design of Little Caesars Arena. Christopher Ilitch called the design "revolutionary" and believes it might inspire future arena designs in other cities.
The arena has a centerhung scoreboard that is 5,100 square feet (470 square meters) in size. It also has 45 LED displays covering more than 13,500 square feet (1,250 square meters) and includes over 16.5 million LEDs.
The goal horn from Joe Louis Arena, used from 1995 to 2017, was not moved to Little Caesars Arena. The old horn's sound would have been too hard to hear in the new arena. Also, storing the compressed nitrogen gas that powered the old horn was unsafe. Instead, a recording of the horn was played through the sound system. This change received mixed reactions from Red Wings fans. Before the 2023–24 season, Little Caesars Arena installed a new horn that matches the model from Joe Louis Arena but uses compressed air instead of nitrogen.
History
In May 2012, the Red Wings hired HKS, Inc. and NBBJ to design a new arena to replace Joe Louis Arena. The new arena would be owned by the city's Downtown Development Authority (DDA), and the land would be leased to Olympia Entertainment, a part of Ilitch Holdings, for free over a long time. Olympia would manage the arena, similar to how it managed Joe Louis Arena. Money from ticket sales, parking, food, and souvenirs would not be shared with the city, unlike with Joe Louis Arena. The city earned about $7 million each year from these agreements.
In December 2012, Olympia Entertainment announced plans to build a new district in downtown Detroit with offices, homes, and a large events center. The estimated cost was $650 million. In June 2013, the DDA announced the new arena's location. About 58% of the $650 million cost, or $261 million, would come from public tax money. On July 24, 2013, the Michigan Strategic Fund approved the $650 million funding request.
Christopher Ilitch shared designs for the new arena and district in July 2014, calling it The District Detroit. He said the goal was to create a world-class sports and entertainment area. The district would be built near the Cass Corridor along Woodward Avenue and include homes, hotels, restaurants, and shops. Olympia Development would pay for improvements like street lights and sidewalks. One area, called "Wildcat Corner," would include the spaces for the Tigers and Lions' stadiums and replace parking lots with apartment buildings.
Ilitch said the project would create 1,000 new jobs in Detroit and 8,300 jobs during construction. Olympia promised that 51% of construction jobs would go to Detroit residents. Two Michigan companies would help build the arena, and 80% of materials would come from Michigan when possible.
Olympia Entertainment's CEO, Tom Wilson, said the arena would be a hub for hockey events, including college and junior tournaments. He also said the arena would host the annual Great Lakes Invitational if the universities wanted to continue.
A formal ceremony marking the start of construction was held on September 25, 2014. After the new arena opened, Joe Louis Arena was torn down, and its site was turned into a hotel and shopping area as part of a bankruptcy agreement.
Mass digging for the arena began on April 24, 2015, after the city approved a zoning change. The Detroit Historic District Commission approved the demolition of the Park Avenue Hotel on June 10 to make space for the arena's loading dock. The building was imploded on July 11, 2015, despite protests.
By August 30, 2016, workers had removed about 488,000 cubic yards of soil for the arena's foundation. Construction of the steel frame started in late 2016.
The ice surface was built on January 5, 2017. Changes to the arena began in February 2017 to prepare for the Pistons. The ice rink was built in March 2017.
In late 2016, it was reported that the Pistons might move from The Palace of Auburn Hills to Little Caesars Arena for the 2017–18 season. Talks between Olympia Entertainment, Pistons owner Tom Gores, and Palace Sports & Entertainment had started in 2015. The Pistons wanted to build a new office and practice facility near the arena.
On November 22, 2016, the Pistons officially announced they would move to Little Caesars Arena starting in 2017–18. Detroit City Council approved the move on June 20, 2017, and the NBA approved it on August 3, 2017. This was the first time since 1974 that all four of Detroit's major league teams played in the city, and the first time since 1978 that the Pistons played in Detroit.
On October 8, 2017, Olympia Entertainment and Palace Sports & Entertainment formed 313 Presents LLC to manage events at their venues.
Little Caesars Arena opened on September 5, 2017, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Red Wings played their first game there on September 23, winning 5–1 against the Boston Bruins. Their first regular season game was on October 5, winning 4–2 against the Minnesota Wild.
The Pistons played their first game at the arena on October 4, losing 108–106 to the Charlotte Hornets. Their regular season opener was on October 18, where they beat the Hornets 102–90.
The Pistons introduced a new basketball court with the Platinum Equity logo instead of the arena's logo, making them the only NBA team not to display arena signs on the court.
In the first year of Little Caesars Arena, some people worried about lower attendance for Red Wings and Pistons games. During the Red Wings' first regular season game, the lower bowl of the arena looked half empty, especially since the game was televised nationally.
Budget
Little Caesars Arena was first reported to cost $450 million to build, plus an additional $200 million for the new district. Out of the total $650 million cost, $285 million would come from public funds, and $365.5 million would be covered by private money.
On May 23, 2017, it was reported that the arena’s cost had increased to $862.9 million.
In June 2017, Robert Davis and D. Etta Wilcoxon, a candidate for city clerk, filed a lawsuit to stop the use of school property tax money to fund Little Caesars Arena and the new Pistons headquarters without a public vote. The funds had been approved by voters only for Detroit Public Schools Community District to pay for daily operations. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith ruled that the plaintiffs did not have the right to sue about this issue. However, the judge allowed another part of the lawsuit to continue, which claimed the DPSCD violated the Equal Protection Clause against Davis.
The DDA, which owns the arena, uses about $15 million each year in state school taxes to repay Michigan State.
Naming rights
On February 11, 2016, it was reported that a local businessman had sold the domain name "littlecaesarsarena.com" three weeks earlier to an international brokerage firm for "five figures," which suggested that Little Caesars, a pizza chain also owned by the Ilitch family, had acquired the naming rights to the new arena. Olympia Entertainment officially announced on April 28 that the venue would be known as Little Caesars Arena. It was also revealed that a large Little Caesars logo would be displayed on the arena's roof; the previous plan for the LED roof was dismissed as being a "placeholder." Chris Ilitch defended the decision of not selling the naming rights to a third-party company, arguing that it was meant to reflect Little Caesars' position as a "legacy business" of the Ilitch family.
The announcement was poorly received. Prior to the unveiling of the official name, some fans suggested to The Detroit News that the arena should have been named after Gordie Howe. Following Howe's death on June 10, an online petition began to circulate requesting that Little Caesars Arena be renamed in honor of the former Red Wings player.
Events
The 2017–18 Great Lakes Invitational was held at the arena for the first time on January 1–2, 2018.
The 2020 NCAA Men's Frozen Four was planned to be held at Little Caesars Arena, hosted by Michigan State University. However, on March 12, 2020, the NCAA announced that all championships for the season would be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) held a game at Little Caesars Arena on March 16, 2024, between its Boston and Ottawa teams. A crowd of 13,736 attended the game, which was the largest crowd for a professional women's hockey game in the United States at that time. Another PWHL game was held at Little Caesars Arena on March 16, 2025, between the Minnesota Frost and the New York Sirens, with 14,288 spectators. A third game was held on January 3, 2026, between the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Boston Fleet. A fourth game between the New York Sirens and Montreal Victoire was held on March 28.
The first regular season college basketball games at Little Caesars Arena took place on December 16, 2017. A doubleheader featured the Michigan Wolverines vs. Detroit Mercy Titans and the Michigan State Spartans vs. Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
As part of a contract from Joe Louis Arena, Little Caesars Arena hosted the Horizon League’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments until 2019, under the name Motor City Madness. Detroit began hosting the men’s tournament at Joe Louis Arena in 2016 and the women’s tournament in 2017. The tournaments moved to Indianapolis in 2020.
Little Caesars Arena hosted first and second-round games during the 2018 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, hosted by the University of Detroit Mercy. Although the nearby Palace of Auburn Hills hosted preliminary rounds in 2013, this was the tournament’s first visit to Detroit since the 2009 Final Four at Ford Field. The tournament returned to the arena for the Midwest Regional in 2024 and will return again in 2028. Originally, the tournament was scheduled to return in 2021, but the games were relocated due to the pandemic.
On July 17, 2019, the Michigan State Spartans and Oakland Golden Grizzlies announced a six-year deal extending their series. Games alternated between Little Caesars Arena and the Breslin Center. The first game was held at the arena on December 14, 2021, and the second on December 21. The third game was originally planned for 2023 but moved to the Breslin Center. The third game at the arena took place on December 17, 2024. A fourth game occurred on December 20, 2025.
The 2020 Big3 championship game was scheduled for August 29, 2020, at Little Caesars Arena. However, the Big3 announced on May 18, 2020, that the 2020 season would be cancelled due to the pandemic.
On November 11, 2022, the Michigan Wolverines played the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Little Caesars Arena. The Wolverines also played the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the arena on November 11, 2025.
Little Caesars Arena will host the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament in 2028.
Little Caesars Arena hosted UFC 218 on December 2, 2017.
The 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were held at the arena, hosted by the University of Michigan.
Little Caesars Arena hosted the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
In its first WWE event, Little Caesars Arena hosted the pay-per-view Hell in a Cell on October 8, 2017, followed by its first Raw broadcast on March 12, 2018. Raw returned on December 28 to pre-record an episode aired on New Year’s Eve. WWE returned for a live SmackDown on December 27, 2019, and recorded a match for Fox’s New Year’s Eve broadcast with Steve Harvey. SmackDown was originally scheduled for March 13, 2020, but the show and all WWE programming were relocated to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando due to the pandemic. Raw returned on December 27, 2021, for the final episode of the year.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) held its first event at Little Caesars Arena on June 29, 2022, including a live broadcast of Dynamite, featuring the second Blood & Guts special and match, and tapings of Rampage and Dark: Elevation.
In August 2019, Little Caesars Arena hosted the 2019 League of Legends Championship Series Summer Finals. The event included a performance by Detroit musician Jax Anderson during its opening ceremony.
Little Caesars Arena is often used for concerts. The first concert took place on September 12, 2017, with Kid Rock. Other artists who have performed at the arena include Paul McCartney, Guns N’ Roses, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Kendrick Lamar, Madonna, and Mary J. Blige.
Reception
In June 2018, the arena received the title of "Sports Facility of the Year" at the 2018 Sports Business Awards.