NFLWeird But True

Shockingly, The Roving Strip Club Party Bus Serving Detroit Lions Fans May Be Shut Down

The Detroit Lions are 3-0. And when you haven’t made the playoffs or so much as finished .500 in over a decade, 3-0 is a big deal. We’d expect Lions fans to be no less than ecstatic over their promising team’s start, and celebrate accordingly – but based on an AP report from this morning, some of those fans might have to direct their gameday enthusiasm elsewhere:

Police may put the brakes on a party bus that was apparently operating as a Sunday strip club for reveling Lions fans at a popular tailgating spot in Detroit.

Investigators believe fans tailgating before a recent Lions home game were allowed onboard the “Booty Lounge,” a large red and black bus replete with two stages, steel dancing poles, tinted windows and even a smoke machine, after forking over a $10 donation to its operators, Detroit Police spokeswoman Eren Stephens said Thursday.

The story goes on to say that the police don’t think doing this is legal, but they’re holding off on trying to stop the operation cold. Apparently, the bus (which was the subject of a TV report earlier this week that spurred the investigation) was/is stationed about a half mile from Ford Field and is in operation for “numerous events” each year. In fairness, though, with a name like “The Booty Lounge,”a logo like this, and photos like this, how was anyone supposed to know there was anything shady going on?!

David Draper, an attorney who represents several strip clubs (interesting legal specialty), said the proprietors of the Booty Lounge might argue that since they’re not fixed in one spot, they don’t require a license like a more traditional strip club might. Plus, it’s not like they’ve been trying to hide anything: here’s their Facebook page, for all to see. And in one especially amusing tidbit, we learn that perhaps not every member of Detroit’s police force is so keen on shutting the place down:

Photos have emerged that purportedly show two uniformed Detroit police officers posing with a woman believed to be part of the operation. [Detroit Police spokeswoman Eren] Stephens said those photos are up to four years old, and [Detroit police chief Ralph] Godbee told the Detroit Free Press he’s not passing judgment until the department completes its investigation.

Even if The Booty Lounge is shuttered, as dark a day as that will be, it’s hard to imagine it’ll keep the possibly-illicit mobile strip club scene down for long. Clearly, there’s some kind of market for it, and as long as that exists, so will these establishments…whether the city of Detroit says they can exist or not. And if the Lions keep giving their fans this much reason to get rowdy, there’s going to be no stopping the Detroit tailgating scene. Honestly…has this city not earned its one day of joy a week?