https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...inos/37729637/
It has been said that Gilbert's dream is to own the Tigers. Could this be a step in that direction?
Or possibly the Lions, I suppose. Not likely, but fans can dream...
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https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...inos/37729637/
It has been said that Gilbert's dream is to own the Tigers. Could this be a step in that direction?
Or possibly the Lions, I suppose. Not likely, but fans can dream...
That's very interesting. He seemed to be very interested in the failjail site so he could better connect Greektown with the rest of downtown, and now he wants to sell off his Greektown investment?
I really don't like casinos. For some they are a fun luxury, and for others they're a terrible addiction and way to drain money out of poor and uneducated people.
I would hope this means the JACK rebranding will not happen. I also hope a new owner changes that ugly red tower on the hotel back to gray or another neutral color.
It is no secret that Chris Ilitch is not big on the Tigers wing of the empire. I know Gilbert wants to get in on the local sports market. This could be his ticket. I know there was discussion about Gores buying the Tigers a couple years back. I think that would be bad for the club, as he is an absentee owner.
After looking at the low revenue streams... Columbus and Toledo casinos are doing better than Gilbert's Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos [[surprise!)... but the 7 racinos [[race tracks with slots and betting) are earning twice the revenue of the 4 city downtown casinos... another surprise. Revenue for 2018 [[so far) shows Cleveland at $118 million, and suburban Cleveland Hard Rock Racino at $248 million... and it becomes clearer why Gilbert wants to sell... especially since the market for casino purchases right now are in demand.
As for Greektown Casino... I don't necessarily think he's going to sell that one. It would be part of his growing downtown entertainments to enhance the value of his real estate portfolio there. Just my guess.
But I do think he will sell his 2 JACK Casinos and 1 JACK Racino in Ohio.
As to whether it's to buy a Detroit sports team, rather than pay for his $1.5 billion+ Hudsons, Monroe and Book Tower developments here... I don't know.
I've never heard Gilbert state he would like to own a major league team and he certainly wouldn't publicly state he wanted the Tigers. What I have seen is comments from people like "Chris Ilitch is cheap and wouldn't it be great if Gilbert owned them", as though the Tigers would suddenly win a World Series because the Cavs won a title [[only because of Lebron).
Professional sports franchises constantly increase in value even when there's a couple of bad revenue years. Ilitch get tons of ancilliary revenue from restaurants, parking, a food company that supplies concessions, free advertising for his casino, Fox Theater, Little Caesars, etc. all from owning the Tigers and Wings. Ilitch has also been a lifelong baseball fan who still coaches Little League.
Gilbert was the runner-up in the bidding for the Milwaukee Brewers in the early 2000s so he has definite past interest in owning a MLB team.Quote:
Originally Posted by 401don
Tear it down, and the other two.
I only drop in the casinos when I’m on a long walk to use the facilities. I always notice how old the clientele is and that they smoke like chimneys. It never looks like a growth industry. More like half the customers will be dead in ten years. Unloading it might be the smart play...