Joe Louis Arena is a multi-purpose arena located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. Completed in 1979 at a cost of $57 million, the venue is named after boxer and former heavyweight champion Joe Louis, who grew up in Detroit. Only one other NHL arena, Madison Square Garden, is without a corporate sponsorship name. The second oldest NHL venue after Madison Square Garden, Joe Louis Arena is owned by the city of Detroit, and operated by Olympia Entertainment, a subsidiary of Ilitch Holdings. Joe Louis Arena replaced Detroit Olympia. It sits adjacent to Cobo Hall on the bank of the Detroit River and is accessible through its own station on the Detroit People Mover.

The Red Wings played their first game at Joe Louis Arena on December 27, 1979, hosting the St. Louis Blues. Later that first season it hosted the 32nd NHL All-Star Game on February 5, 1980,[8] which was played before a then-NHL record crowd of 21,002. Joe Louis Arena was the site of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, which marked the first NHL Entry Draft to be held in the United States. In 1980, the arena hosted the Republican National Convention where Ronald Reagan was nominated as the Republican candidate for President of the United States.

On July 20, 2014, following the July 2013 approval of a $650 million project to build a new sports and entertainment district in Downtown Detroit, Christopher Ilitch unveiled designs for Little Caesars Arena near Comerica Park and Ford Field to be completed by 2017, which will succeed Joe Louis Arena as the future home of the Red Wings. Joe Louis Arena will be demolished following the completion of the new arena, and its site will be redeveloped. On October 16, 2014, lawyers involved in the ongoing Detroit bankruptcy case disclosed in court that after demolition (which will be paid for by the city and state), the land on which the arena currently stands, along with an adjacent parking lot, will be transferred to the Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC), a bond insurer with a $1 billion claim against the city.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Louis_Arena