16 | MARCH 12 • 2020 

Jews in the D

continued from page 15

sure venues have the right per-
formers and events. He will focus 
on finding ways to grow the busi-
ness, including attracting highly 
competitive national events to 
the city. He also has oversight on 
marketing campaigns, integration 
of the latest technology trends 
and front-end and back-end 
operations. Recently, he launched 
the redesign of 313presents.com. 
 
Handler has inherited some 
top-grossing venues. DTE Energy 
in Clarkston was named the No. 
1 amphitheater in the world, with 
close to 600,000 paid attendees 
in 2019, according to Pollstar, 
an industry trade publication 
that provides year-end rankings. 
Little Caesars Arena, home of 
the Detroit Red Wings and the 
Detroit Pistons, moved up to No. 
2 in the U.S. for top arenas for 
concert ticket sales, behind only 
Madison Square Garden (where 
Handler also once worked). LCA 
sold more than 900,000 tickets 
last year. 
“I love every one of our ven-
ues,” Handler said. “Meadow 
Brook Theatre is almost like a 
summer camp, nestled in the 
woods at Oakland University. 
Comerica Park will be the host 
of four very, very big concerts 
this summer, and it provides a 
tremendous atmosphere in the 
great outdoors.”
Among its seven venues, 
313 Presents also operates the 
intimate 400-seat Sound Board 
at Motor City Casino Hotel 
and the historic and grand 
Fox Theatre in Downtown 
Detroit and produces events at 
Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre 
at Freedom Hill County Park in 
Sterling Heights. 
Handler views his new role 
as a way to impact economic 
activity in Detroit. “More qual-
ity events and shows will result 
in more activity downtown,” 
he said. 

He’
s most looking forward to 
helping the team achieve its full 
potential. “There are 40 people 
on the team now. I think they’
ve 
got incredible talent,
” he said. 
“We want to do some big ambi-
tious things together.
”
To that end, 313 Presents will 
be hosting the 2020 Frozen Four 
on April 9 and 11. That will be 
the second of four NCAA events 
at LCA. The company also will 
host the NCAA Men’
s Basketball 
first and second rounds in 2021. 
And it’
s got the NCAA Wrestling 
Championships in 2022. All four 
bids were awarded before LCA 
opened its doors.
313 Presents partners with 
the Detroit Sports Commission, 
which prioritizes the region’
s 
efforts to secure these big events. 
Arn Tellem, vice chairman of 
the Detroit Pistons and a board 
member of the Detroit Sports 
Organizing Corporation, said 
he is excited to have Handler on 
board at 313 Presents. 
“He not only has fantastic 
work achievements behind him, 
but he also has deep roots in the 
city,
” Tellem said. “We are looking 
forward to his contributions to 
the community in years to come.
”
Handler sees many positive 
opportunities to sell Detroit to 
outsiders. “I think we perfected 
R&B and punk and hip hop, in 
addition to Motown and tech-
no,
” he said. “Detroit is looked 
at as a sports-loving town. The 
four major professional teams 
are beloved. I think people see 
Detroit is a city with a vibrant 
and still-emerging food and 
restaurant scene. I think a lot 
of people see Detroit is a city of 
industry and creativity and art 
and design and innovation. 
“So, I think there are lots of 
different ways that people view 
and embrace and are inspired 
by Detroit — Detroit is making 
its mark.” 

“He not only has fantastic work 
achievements behind him, but 
he also has deep roots in the city. 
We are looking forward to his 
contributions to the community 
in the years to come.”

— ARN TELLEM

TOP: Handler’
s office desk: photos of his two children and his wife — and a U-M 
Red Wings cap. ABOVE: This AP photo hangs in Handler’
s office. It shows his 
great-uncle, referee Lou Handler, declaring “The Raging Bull” Jake LaMotta the 
1950 Middleweight Champion in a win over Frenchman Lauren Dauthielle.

