Gores exploring moving Pistons Downtown

[princeofpalace]

Moving Detroit downtown has been discussed on this board many times, but apparently is a lifelong dream of Gores as well. Looks like Tellem will be instrumental in the process. Moving the Pistons back downtown would be great for the City of Detroit and I hope it happens.

One of Tellem's first agenda items when he takes over Aug. 3 is to explore bringing the Pistons downtown from Auburn Hills. That likely would mean a meeting with Chris Ilitch and Mike Ilitch from Olympia Entertainment, which has launched a $650 million arena and business project.

"We will put Arn in charge of helping us analyze how we can talk to the other business leaders," Gores said. "We are going to charter Arn to study that (moving downtown). It will be one of his first things."

Olympia Entertainment president Tom Wilson said in a statement that he is willing to work with Gores in future business ventures.

"With The District Detroit, we're planning and building a vibrant, walkable and active sports and entertainment district that will feature events throughout the year across numerous venues and public spaces. We appreciate what Tom Gores and the Pistons organization have accomplished, and we're absolutely open to any partnerships that bring exciting, unique events to Detroit and its fans."

Gilbert said he has met with Gores and Gores said he hopes they have more discussions about downtown projects.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports ... /28667419/

[dVs33]

That's pretty interesting.
I'm sure if any move happens it'll be after i move back to Aus so I'll miss out on seeing the pistons downtown
It would be great for the city if they move, but it would cost a bunch and the Palace is a perfectly good stadium.

[Shady_]

oh man i really hope it happens, the long drive to the Palace sucks and the parking at the Palace is god awful.

The Team needs to be in Detroit where it belongs

[Kilo]

Palace would remain open - just be a concert/special event venue. I suspect that part of any agreement with Pistons and Olympia Entertainment would see that Olympia would book no concerts/events at the new arena, so the Palace would be the only arena-sized venue in the area for such events to make up for the lost Piston's gate. But that point could be moot anyways if the Pistons did move to the new arena as they'd be bringing 41 home dates not counting pre-season and potentially playoff dates and combine that with the same for the Red Wings and you'd have 100 dates booked yearly for the new Arena and all between September and May. Now take into account that concerts would need day before and day after for set-up and dismantle, there would need to be three day window to fit a show into which probably isn't likely given the two teams calling the new arena home during their seasons. And then come the summer months - that's more outdoor concert time anyways ie DTE/Pine Knob which is owned by Gores.

[Kilo]

Welp, that was fun while it lasted anyways -

Update (12:45 p.m., Monday, June 8): Apparently the Pistons organization is already over this ****. In a statement to the News, an associate of Gores said the team has "no plans" to move away from Auburn Hills. So, there's that.

[princeofpalace]

Welp, that was fun while it lasted anyways -

Update (12:45 p.m., Monday, June 8): Apparently the Pistons organization is already over this ****. In a statement to the News, an associate of Gores said the team has "no plans" to move away from Auburn Hills. So, there's that.

Where is this from. DetNews has not printed a retraction and Gores is quoted as saying "We are going to charter Arn to study that (moving downtown). It will be one of his first things."

Not sure why an associate of Gores has more sway than Gores himself.

[Kilo]

^Metro Times.

[dVs33]

Welp, that was fun while it lasted anyways -

Update (12:45 p.m., Monday, June 8): Apparently the Pistons organization is already over this ****. In a statement to the News, an associate of Gores said the team has "no plans" to move away from Auburn Hills. So, there's that.

Where is this from. DetNews has not printed a retraction and Gores is quoted as saying "We are going to charter Arn to study that (moving downtown). It will be one of his first things."

Not sure why an associate of Gores has more sway than Gores himself.

Any move would be years away, so maybe the "no plans" was in reference to the upcoming season.

[Kilo]

^True. I mean the articles even say Tellem is going to work on the logistics of it all, so there are no plans because Tellem doesn't start here until August. Ha!

[Warspite]

Would be nice to see The pistons play a few games in the new stadium with the roof open.

[Blkbrd671]

For those of you that don't realize it, PISTON'S WILL BE MOVING DOWNTOWN. Its all simply just a matter of business discussions and diving up revenues. Fact is that it makes sense for Detroit, it makes sense for the pistons, and it makes sense for the Ilitch. We'll hear nothign but a smoke screen until the arena's almsot ready, but i fully expect us to be playing in Dwntown detroit.

[Kilo]

Would be nice to see The pistons play a few games in the new stadium with the roof open.

New RW Arena roof doesn't open AFAIK, just lights up.

[tmorgan]

Five years away minimum, but yeah, this'll happen eventually.

[WillTheThrill12]

I don't see it happening tbh, why would Gores invest so much into The Palace (upwards of $48 million) putting in a new scoreboard, sprucing up the locker rooms, making the concourses look more updated and contemporary, etc. just to move into the new Red Wings arena a year or two later and just letting The Palace sit there just as a concert/special events venue? Just doesn't make sense to do, seems like a very counterintuitive thing. The investment was made mostly for the team purposes because that's where the big money will come from. Also, not a great business decision to go be a tenant and rent out the new arena to give out money to the Illiches when you have your own venue at your own disposal.

[Pharaoh]

Seems Gores is all about community and making something positive happen in Detroit.

That may or may not involve the Pistons playing downtown but Gores should be commended for at least extending the olive branch

[WC NBA Fan]

I wouldn't dismiss the notion of the Palace staying open as a non basketball arena. Keep in mind that the Pistons only take up 40-45 dates a year while other events take up around 150. Assuming the Pistons do make the move downtown, there will be so many sporting events taking place downtown that you would have to have a backup arena to take care of non sporting events. The new arena will have tons of concerts as well but due to over booking, it will be good to have the Palace as a backup.

As far as why would Gores make all the new improvements to the Palace if he's just going to move away, all I can say is that the video board is just as important for concerts as it is for sporting events. The stage is so far away from some of the spectators that you need a video board to get a decent view of whatever act is playing.

I'd love to see this happen and it would be cool if Gores and Ilitch just partnered 100% on this. Split non sporting revenue from both the Palace and the new arena to insure that both buildings stay busy as opposed to cutting each other off at the knee. This is why you see so many business mergers. I don't want to use the term monopoly, especially when talking about Detroit sports fans in a region that is trying to bounce back but ultimately, these guys are businessmen and it makes more sense to join forces. Take advantage of cross promotion opportunities. This happens when one team is bad and the other is good. Offer deals to fans of the good team if they agree to buy season tickets to the struggling one and things of that sort and then flip the script when the bad team bounces back and the good team starts to struggle and so on..