Latest Article Regarding Speculation Of Pistons To Detroit Someday

[EastsideAl]

That article is very very lukewarm on the idea. The only way I can see the Pistons coming downtown is if the Palace ceases to be viable as a major events venue, and the Pistons attendance never recovers. The former is to some large extent dependent on how well the new downtown arena does, and the latter at least partially dependent on how well this latest rebuild of the team goes.

I also can't really see it making sense for the Pistons to build a new arena downtown. It's hard to see 2 big arenas being viable in such proximity. It would make much more financial sense for all involved for the Pistons to share dates with the Red Wings, thereby making the new arena much more financially viable, and also helping nearby downtown businesses. Especially since one of the problems of going to the Palace is its isolation, leaving nowhere to go before/after games, and a move downtown would definitely solve that problem,while also giving the Pistons a wider area to draw fans from.

This arena sharing shouldn't really be a problem. After all, this is what's done in most of the cities that have both a basketball and a hockey team. To use your example of NYC, the Knicks and the Rangers have shared Madison Square Garden forever, and recently the Nets and the Islanders began sharing the new Brooklyn arena. In an extreme example, the Staples Center in L.A. hosts 3 teams: the Lakers and Clippers of the NBA, and the Kings of the NHL. The main problem would be the relationship between the prickly Ilitches and Gores, and thus the Pistons dealing with being the secondary tenant

[emu steve]

That article is very very lukewarm on the idea. The only way I can see the Pistons coming downtown is if the Palace ceases to be viable as a major events venue, and the Pistons attendance never recovers. The former is to some large extent dependent on how well the new downtown arena does, and the latter at least partially dependent on how well this latest rebuild of the team goes.

I also can't really see it making sense for the Pistons to build a new arena downtown. It's hard to see 2 big arenas being viable in such proximity. It would make much more financial sense for all involved for the Pistons to share dates with the Red Wings, thereby making the new arena much more financially viable, and also helping nearby downtown businesses. Especially since one of the problems of going to the Palace is its isolation, leaving nowhere to go before/after games, and a move downtown would definitely solve that problem,while also giving the Pistons a wider area to draw fans from.

This arena sharing shouldn't really be a problem. After all, this is what's done in most of the cities that have both a basketball and a hockey team. To use your example of NYC, the Knicks and the Rangers have shared Madison Square Garden forever, and recently the Nets and the Islanders began sharing the new Brooklyn arena. In an extreme example, the Staples Center in L.A. hosts 3 teams: the Lakers and Clippers of the NBA, and the Kings of the NHL. The main problem would be the relationship between the prickly Ilitches and Gores, and thus the Pistons dealing with being the secondary tenant

Agree, billionaires don't like to play like two kids in a sandbox.

That said, with the Pistons, the new arena wouldn't have any trouble hitting 150 - 175 events per year. [[I have a hard time believing 150 w/out the Pistons despite the happy talk from the Ilitch folks).

As we have discussed before, April in the D would be something with the Tigers, Wings and Pistons, on any given day playing at Woodward/Fisher... Tigers during the day and the Wings or Pistons at night.