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I read a really good column on why gores wont move the pistons downtown,once they finish the new stadium.

Check it out.

http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/ ... na_in.html

More or less states what most of us already knew. Owning the Pistons includes more than just the NBA team. That's one reason I'm astounded by the price Gores paid. He got an NBA team, and one of the premier entertainment venues in Michigan, for 325M. As of January, the team was worth 450M if I remember correctly. I don't know if that includes the Palace, but either way, that's a huge bump in a short period of time.

Don't really agree with the part about the Palace being one of the nicest arenas in the NBA. It's nice, but it's nowhere near the ones that have been built within the past 5-10 years. Nothing wrong with that, it's expected, but let's not pretend it's on par with brand new buildings. Granted, I haven't been up there for a couple years, so I don't know what the upgrades have really done.

I guess I never expected them to move, so it's nothing new to me. It would be cool to get all 4 teams downtown, but it's unrealistic.

The only way I ever see them moving is if llitch buys them at a later date,other than that I dont see them going anywhere for a long time.

The palace is actually pretty nice,maybe not as new as some of the others that have been built in the past 5-10 yrs,but its on par with the inside amenitys,especialy that new jumbo screen.

There's talk of Illitch wanting to sell off the Wings/Tigers and Little Ceasars (which I'm not sure that I believe) so I no longer see him as a serious option as an owner.

The author fails to mention just how much the Palace's value will drop once the new arena is built downtown. The Palace will no longer be the premiere concert venue in the area. Arena concerts will go to the new arena and stadium shows will go to Ford Field. Granted I'm sure there will still be concerts in Auburn Hills but just not as many and at the same caliber.

I wish that the Pistons would move to the city. I love the team but the travel from the Lenawee County area makes it hard to attend many games. I go to probably 15-20 Tigers games a year, 1 Lions game a year and probably 1-2 Red Wings (not to mention, the Lions camp/Tigerfest and Red Wings fanfest) games a year compared to probably a Pistons game every other year.

Logistically the only games I have a reasonable shot of attending at their current locale is Sunday games that start early.

^Can't see Mike Ilitch selling, but maybe Chris Ilitch eventually. Even then I'd guess the Tigers would be the asset sold given that was Mike's personal love of baseball - can't imagine them selling off the Wings after building the Arena/District around the franchise. Little Caesars could be sold off to some conglomerate rather easily one would assume - but that was Mike's baby/start-up so I can't see it being sold as long as he and Marian are alive.

Kilo wrote:^Can't see Mike Ilitch selling, but maybe Chris Ilitch eventually. Even then I'd guess the Tigers would be the asset sold given that was Mike's personal love of baseball - can't imagine them selling off the Wings after building the Arena/District around the franchise. Little Caesars could be sold off to some conglomerate rather easily one would assume - but that was Mike's baby/start-up so I can't see it being sold as long as he and Marian are alive.

Some sports guy out of Toronto reported that Illitch has "made it known" that he's looking to sell basically everything.

As everybody assumed, it was false.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports ... /17464203/

Theres an articule saying the rumurs are false that llitch isnt selling

There's nothing wrong with the Palace as a modern venue; they've done a nice job in keeping it up to date. I'm closer to the Palace but would much rather go downtown to see the Pistons as there's a lot more to do. There's nothing around the Palace.

There's definitely some logic in the idea that once the new stadium goes in that Palace Sports and Entertainment will take a value hit as people are going to prefer to go downtown to a concert than to the Palace, thus opening up the possibility of the Pistons being sold off. Although I'm not sure the Pistons would have to be sold to move to the new stadium. Gores could lease from Ilitch; I don't think there's anything stating that the team and the stadium have to be owned by the same entity.

Manocad wrote:There's nothing wrong with the Palace as a modern venue; they've done a nice job in keeping it up to date. I'm closer to the Palace but would much rather go downtown to see the Pistons as there's a lot more to do. There's nothing around the Palace.

There's definitely some logic in the idea that once the new stadium goes in that Palace Sports and Entertainment will take a value hit as people are going to prefer to go downtown to a concert than to the Palace, thus opening up the possibility of the Pistons being sold off. Although I'm not sure the Pistons would have to be sold to move to the new stadium. Gores could lease from Ilitch; I don't think there's anything stating that the team and the stadium have to be owned by the same entity.

In many cases aren't they NOT owned by the same entity?

I always got the impression the Pistons were actually the exception, not the rule. Heck, the Staples Center houses 2 teams.

Yeah, after I posted that I started thinking that there were a number of cases where the ownership of the team and the arena were separate.

Yes the Pistons and the Palace Entertainment being owned together is an aberration within the NBA. It's also not a requirement. They could be sold separately, but a lot of the value of the Pistons is that they have their own arena. Together, they're worth a lot more than they would make if sold separately. The issue isn't that it's not possible for the Pistons to play elsewhere. They can play wherever the organization decides they should play, within certain boundaries obviously. But business-wise, it wouldn't make sense for Gores to pay a lease to whoever ends up owning the new arena (Illitch? Or is it the city?) when he can let the team play in his own venue for free. Especially after the improvements they just made, it's even less likely that they'd be moving in the near future. You don't make renovations like that, and then send your top draw to another venue. On top of that, the Pistons would be behind the Wings for all scheduling issues, which is never ideal. (Although that'd pretty much guarantee a home game for one of the teams 4-5 nights a week....that'd be awesome)


The one thing that would work in favor of this situation is that Gores bought the package when the price was at an all time low. If he could sell one side of the package and the other was still worth what he paid for the whole package or more, it might be something he'd be interested in. (I.e. Sells Pistons/Palace for 100M, what he keeps is still valued at 325M+) Unlikely, but better chances nonetheless.

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epheisey wrote:More or less states what most of us already knew. Owning the Pistons includes more than just the NBA team. That's one reason I'm astounded by the price Gores paid. He got an NBA team, and one of the premier entertainment venues in Michigan, for 325M. As of January, the team was worth 450M if I remember correctly. I don't know if that includes the Palace, but either way, that's a huge bump in a short period of time.

Don't really agree with the part about the Palace being one of the nicest arenas in the NBA. It's nice, but it's nowhere near the ones that have been built within the past 5-10 years. Nothing wrong with that, it's expected, but let's not pretend it's on par with brand new buildings. Granted, I haven't been up there for a couple years, so I don't know what the upgrades have really done.

I guess I never expected them to move, so it's nothing new to me. It would be cool to get all 4 teams downtown, but it's unrealistic.

What arena can't the Palace compete with? I personally think that's bull....the Palace is as nice as just about any other arena in the league....especially the crappy arenas out west.

Very valid reasons not to move downtown... I've always wanted them downtown but it makes too much sense to stay at the Palace.

It doesn't matter where you play, if you're winning the fans will show up.

It would be sweet tho if they scheduled some games at the new Red Wings arena once its complete. That would be a fun and interesting experiment.

The part I've never really understood is that why, after 25 years, there hasn't been more in the immediate area to take advantage of The Palace. You've got Ciccarelli's (and its shuttle service to the Palace... cheaper than Palace parking) and that's about it. With ~200 events per year, you'd think more businesses would be able to cash in.

There are not very valid reasons, i.e. plural, for the Pistons not being downtown. There's one, and that's the immediate financial interest of the owner. Now to the owner obviously that's the number 1 consideration; just making the point that there is no other reason whatsoever to believe that the Pistons wouldn't draw more fans if they played in a new stadium in the entertainment district downtown. And looking long term the worth of the team is going to be defined by how many fans the team can consistently draw.

When the concert circuit gets so big that 50ish Pistons events are worth less than 50 additional concerts, that's when the Pistons will move to make more room for concerts.

I think people think moving downtown will automatically bring a substantial boost to the company. An arena downtown is only a boost when you have a solid foundation. I think playing at the palace if sufficient for atleast the next decade. Reevaluate the city after that


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Honestly I dont mind them staying put,I dont mind the drive and it isnt so cramped feeling when you go there.

DTP wrote:

epheisey wrote:More or less states what most of us already knew. Owning the Pistons includes more than just the NBA team. That's one reason I'm astounded by the price Gores paid. He got an NBA team, and one of the premier entertainment venues in Michigan, for 325M. As of January, the team was worth 450M if I remember correctly. I don't know if that includes the Palace, but either way, that's a huge bump in a short period of time.

Don't really agree with the part about the Palace being one of the nicest arenas in the NBA. It's nice, but it's nowhere near the ones that have been built within the past 5-10 years. Nothing wrong with that, it's expected, but let's not pretend it's on par with brand new buildings. Granted, I haven't been up there for a couple years, so I don't know what the upgrades have really done.

I guess I never expected them to move, so it's nothing new to me. It would be cool to get all 4 teams downtown, but it's unrealistic.

What arena can't the Palace compete with? I personally think that's bull....the Palace is as nice as just about any other arena in the league....especially the crappy arenas out west.

How many have you been to? I've only been to a few, but I never thought the Palace was anything special. Any league wide rankings of arena's usually put the Palace middle of the pack.

kurtis48239 wrote:Honestly I dont mind them staying put,I dont mind the drive and it isnt so cramped feeling when you go there.

Can you imagine what a nightmare it would be for a Sunday game if the Lions are home, the Tigers are in the playoffs, and the Pistons had a Sunday afternoon game?