Little Caesars Arena has seen just five sellouts for Pistons games in the team's first year thereNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The Pistons yesterday "added a few thousand black seat covers" at Little Caesars Arena as "part of a new corporate partnership" with Michigan-based Art Van Furniture, according to Rod Beard of the DETROIT NEWS. The deal to cover the red seats with black covers "appears to be with the Pistons and not the Red Wings." It remains "unclear" whether the Pistons "might add more to cover the entire lower bowl at a later time." One of the "bigger issues about the red seats was that they’ve been an eyesore, especially on TV, when there were large pockets of empty seats around the arena." The Pistons have had "just five sellouts this season, so the red seats had been a point of emphasis among national media" (DETROIT NEWS, 12/13). The Pistons are actually seeing an 11% increase in average attendance with the move from Auburn Hills to downtown Detroit. After 30 home games this season, the Pistons are averaging 17,182 fans per game (83.9% capacity). Last year at the same time (27 games), the team was averaging 15,417 fans per game in the suburbs (THE DAILY).
