The eight-story arena is built as a bowl, with its floor 40 feet (12 m) below street level with seating capacities of 19,515 for ice hockey and 20,332 for basketball. The bowl also features a "gondola" seating level suspended above the stands. The exterior of the bowl structure is capable of displaying video projections. A 37,300-square-foot (3,470 m2) practice ice rink is also inside the arena. In addition to serving as the practice facility for the Red Wings, the rink serves as the home of both Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club and Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League as well.
The Bell Centre in Montreal has been cited to be one of the biggest influences of the arena's design. Christopher Ilitch described the arena's design as being "revolutionary", and believes that it may influence future arena designs in other cities.
The arena features a centerhung scoreboard that measures at 5,100 square feet (470 m2). The arena also features 45 LED displays covering more than 13,500 square feet (1,250 m2) and 16.5 million plus LEDs in and around it.
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