Why The Raceway Arena Had To Fail

The fight over the location of a new bridge is a lot more complicated than you may think.

Let's assume that someone was so foolish as to actually plan to build a DRIC bridge where they seem to want to build it now. That is further downriver, to the edges of Detroit and Windsor.

Now if you were the Mayor of Detroit, would you be happy about it? Michigan law authorizes up to three licensed commercial casinos in the City of Detroit. And Detroit's three Casinos are all in downtown Detroit.

I would think that the Detroit Mayor would be upset at the thought of a competitive Casino being built away from the downtown taking away business from those in the City. No wonder he is against the DRIC bridge. Why would he want a new bridge in a location that can hurt his City financially.

Not possible you say. No way that a new Casino would be built Downriver. Well, didn't Governor Granholm give in out of the blue to the Downriver communities by killing the DRIC bridge there. Why wouldn't she allow a new Casino in their neighbourhood if they pressed her especially since this is her last term and she may have grander political ambitions?

Wouldn't you think the Mayor of Windsor should think the same way as Kwame. Keep the bridge where it is so that Americans will go to Casino Windsor easily. But wait, doesn't Eddie want a bridge further out? Of course he does, for a variety of reasons.

Now no new Casino would be built in Windsor so that is NOT an issue as it is in Detroit, but if Project Ice Track had been built at the Raceway, it would be a major entertainment and gambling destination and a threat to the Casino. The new bridge would ensure that people could get to the Raceway a lot more easily and quickly than going downtown to the Casino. That would hurt the Casino business and their $400M expansion project.

As Gord Henderson said,

• "But what if that same city then turned around and invested $15-million of public money in a privately operated arena/entertainment complex at Windsor Raceway, just a few kilometres to the west and in a prime location to attract U.S. patrons? Would that violate the spirit of any no-compete commitment, verbal or otherwise, that the city might have given the province?...
  
  What if they [OLG and casino management] believe there's a finite entertainment market here (in a city that can't even support the Capitol Theatre without big injections of bingo money) and fear that a raceway operation could siphon off business and make their $400-million dollar investment, which was condemned by the Tories at Queen's Park as outrageous political favouritism, look like a remarkably dumb decision?"

In order to keep the bridge where Eddie wants it and to keep the Casino happy, Project Ice Track could never be built. It never had a chance.

The East end arena is a "sports" arena not an entertainment destination. With only 48 nights a year booked, 40 of them being Spitfires games, it's no threat to the Casino.

Will the Tecumseh arena complex be built and become a competitor to Casino Windsor after all? Have the best laid plans gone astray? The Toldos and Rosatis were NOT supposed to act as they did. They were supposed to have followed the Beztak example, folded their tents and disappeared into the night when Project Ice Track was killed.

Someone at the Raceway obviously got the wrong script!