Red Wings get new stadium...

[DetroitDon15]

I'm not a fan of metro Detroit area. Traffic is brutal. It's not a fun experience. I kind of wish the Pistons would move downtown. I live by the palace and when there is a game night, I75 becomes brutal to drive on. I think it would make the Pistons attendance go up as there is a lack of good bars/atmosphere around the palace. I mean really the best you can do is go to Great Lakes Crossing and than the game? I mean GSL has become a dump.

[Snakebites]

As far as attendance goes, the Palace sells out when the team is good.

This.

Bottom line is the fans show up when the team is good.

You don't go from huge attendance to dead last in attendance, have that coincide with a massive drop in the quality of the product on the floor, then turn around and blame the location.

Fans will fill the Palace again as soon as they feel there is a product worth the trip for.

[Warspite]

lets also not forget that 30-40% of Red Wings fans are Canadian. Putting the Red Wings further away from the border is realy bad business. Downtown is essentialy the neutral zone between Canada and the USA.

[Blkbrd671]

i think many ppl are forgetting that the Pistons are seen as a investment to Gore, i do think he intends to flip it. Downtown location would help attendance as well as atmosphere.

[Sheedpocalypse]

Thanks for all the info, it's really cool as an an 'outsider' to read all these stories from people who are from Detroit or the Michigan area. What are Detroit fans like by the way? For instance, I like the Philly Eagles as well and those fans have kind of a reputation... Are Detroit fans perceived in a certain way as well? Apart from the Malice I mean haha

[BadMofoPimp]

If you know Detroit well, you can get around the Metro heavy traffic areas. I would take Warren, Woodward or Michigan etc. Unless, you are afraid of driving through what looks like the hood. I been through most streets of Detroit, even the very bad ones as we would get a group of 4-5 of us and drive around taking pictures of old neighborhoods. Plus, a friend of mind worked at a church in one of the worst neighborhoods helping people rebuild houses. We would play basketball in the hood on occasion. I am always up for a game.

[bballnmike]

i think many ppl are forgetting that the Pistons are seen as a investment to Gore, i do think he intends to flip it. Downtown location would help attendance as well as atmosphere.

Downtown would def help with the atmosphere, but as an investment, right now you get the package deal with the Pistons. The team, the Palace, the parking, DTE music theatre, and Meadow Brook as well. You could sell the package as a whole, but I think there's something to be said for having all those properties pretty close to each other, and owning all the facilities.

[imagump1313]

Thanks for all the info, it's really cool as an an 'outsider' to read all these stories from people who are from Detroit or the Michigan area. What are Detroit fans like by the way? For instance, I like the Philly Eagles as well and those fans have kind of a reputation... Are Detroit fans perceived in a certain way as well? Apart from the Malice I mean haha

Detroit fans are pretty much like everywhere else I guess. When the team is good, every game is sold out and everyone claims to be lifetime fans. When the teams suck, no one goes and everyone complains.

[Kilo]

Palace is not going to be near the good investment once the new Redwing Arena Complex is open. Why would any acts choose the Palace over the new downtown venue in the heart of the entertainment district?

Gores has to hope the Pistons franchise alone appreciates in value enough to make him money when he sells the team, because all of the other stuff he was forced to buy with them will be going nowhere but down in value and the next would-be buyer of the Pistons will want no part of those.

Gores is a smart as hell guy, and surrounds himself with smart as hell guys - so he has to know that. Maybe he figures he had a five year window before the new Red Wing complex was built, and he probably did buy low on the Pistons given the economy, national and especially State/Local at the time and the CBA.

[Piston Pete]

This is all silly.

When the Pistons built the Palace, why didn't the Wings move and play there instead of playing in the old Joe?

Answer that......then tell me why the Pistons would move just because the Wings are building a new arena.

[Blkbrd671]

i think many ppl are forgetting that the Pistons are seen as a investment to Gore, i do think he intends to flip it. Downtown location would help attendance as well as atmosphere.

Downtown would def help with the atmosphere, but as an investment, right now you get the package deal with the Pistons. The team, the Palace, the parking, DTE music theatre, and Meadow Brook as well. You could sell the package as a whole, but I think there's something to be said for having all those properties pretty close to each other, and owning all the facilities.

we'd have such a hostile crowd.

[Cmurda$maka]

As someone who lived North It was huge that the Palace was built where it was. Tiger Stadium and Joe were hours away but the Palace could be reached in just a few mins. I could attend Pistons games regularly but the Tigers or Red Wings were almost a vacation trip.


I do understand that the population change has realy hurt (Palace was built to attract middle/high income burbs but many of them found they had to move out of state the last decade) but for many people outside the 313 the Palace is about as close to Detroit as one wants to be.

This makes absolutely no sense. If you start at the palace, you can be to the joe louis arena in about 45 minutes. 45 minutes is the difference between a regular trip and a vacation??

[Hotmayo]

As someone who lived North It was huge that the Palace was built where it was. Tiger Stadium and Joe were hours away but the Palace could be reached in just a few mins. I could attend Pistons games regularly but the Tigers or Red Wings were almost a vacation trip.


I do understand that the population change has realy hurt (Palace was built to attract middle/high income burbs but many of them found they had to move out of state the last decade) but for many people outside the 313 the Palace is about as close to Detroit as one wants to be.

This makes absolutely no sense. If you start at the palace, you can be to the joe louis arena in about 45 minutes. 45 minutes is the difference between a regular trip and a vacation??

I think he means from northern Michigan

[Warspite]

As someone who lived North It was huge that the Palace was built where it was. Tiger Stadium and Joe were hours away but the Palace could be reached in just a few mins. I could attend Pistons games regularly but the Tigers or Red Wings were almost a vacation trip.


I do understand that the population change has realy hurt (Palace was built to attract middle/high income burbs but many of them found they had to move out of state the last decade) but for many people outside the 313 the Palace is about as close to Detroit as one wants to be.

This makes absolutely no sense. If you start at the palace, you can be to the joe louis arena in about 45 minutes. 45 minutes is the difference between a regular trip and a vacation??

The last Pistons/RedWings games I attended was in 1992. Im sure the traffic patterns have changed in 21 yrs.