The Detroit Pistons’ possible move to downtown Detroit is supported by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who said a relocation traces the path of other teams abandoning the suburbs for new, lucrative center city developments.
“My take is that if they ultimately decide to join the Red Wings and move downtown, they will have joined all of their other [league] partners, who at some point had moved outside of urban centers into suburbs, and that will be returning back to our cities,” Silver said of the Pistons’ pending relocation to Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings’ new arena opening next year.
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The Pistons are in talks with the Red Wings to move downtown to Little Caesars Arena.
Photo by: COURTESY OF OLYMPIC ENTERTAINMENT
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“I think it’s been a great trend for the league,” Silver said. “I think in many ways we are a city sport. I think that what we’re seeing in all those communities, just as I’m witnessing in Sacramento, [is] the enormous amount of economic development that comes with urban entertainment centers.”
The Pistons played 21 years in downtown Detroit at two arenas before moving to the old Pontiac Silverdome for 10 years, beginning in 1978. They’ve played at the Palace of Auburn Hills, their current home, since 1988.
Now the Pistons are negotiating a deal to join the Red Wings at their $627 million downtown facility set to open in September.
Silver’s comments come after Pistons owner Tom Gores recently said the team was getting close to a deal with the Red Wings.
Pistons executives would not comment on the potential move, but at press time, sources said both the Red Wings and Pistons were continuing to negotiate details of sharing the new arena. So close are the two sides to an agreement that the city of Auburn Hills, about 30 miles northwest of Detroit, issued a statement saying that a Pistons move to downtown Detroit appears inevitable.
The future of the Palace remains uncertain. The Pistons have spent about $200 million in renovations over the past 25 years, team officials said.
The potential for a move by the Pistons comes as the Sacramento Kings open Golden 1 Center, their $557 million arena. The Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors are developing new arenas.
Ilitch Holdings, controlled by Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch, is privately financing most of the Detroit project, which includes $250 million in public funds.
The arena is part of a massive 55-block redevelopment of downtown Detroit that includes office, retail and hotel development. Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is among the investors in the redevelopment.
“In Detroit, I think that it would be a great shot in the arm for the city, and I know the team is working hard on examining every angle to getting a deal like that done,” Silver said. “The league’s involvement has been to stay in regular discussion with the team and to be there as a sounding board, and to act as consultants for them.”
