Terry Foster: Pistons Lay Groundwork For A Detroit Return
By: Terry Foster
@terryfoster971
The Pistons are moving back downtown Detroit where they belong. I do not know if this will happen in one year, two years or five. But they are laying the groundwork to return downtown.
Owner Tom Gores and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver have talked about it. Former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, who has Gores' ear, is pushing for it. And why do you think President Arn Tellem is spending as much time downtown as he is the Palace?
Gores and his group see a bigger picture that the rest of you don't. It makes business sense for Gores to move his team downtown.
"I am biased and I am not afraid to say it, the Pistons belong downtown," Bing told me last year. "Basketball is a city game and he (Gores) understands that. You are losing a lot of opportunity from the population stand point by saying where he is. You don't see a lot of people from Detroit, Canadians, Downriver people, people from Ohio or Ann Arbor.
"Downtown Detroit is a much easier place to get to. And with all the good things happening people have other options than just a game."
But if he moves the Pistons downtown he will lose out on some parking and concessions, people counter. Why would he leave a perfectly fine building that is paid for? Why would he leave the Palace where he sinks millions into?
Nobody said he was abandoning the Palace. He just won't play basketball there.
Gores is not interested in making a few million. He wants to make hundreds of millions, and that is why downtown is so important.
Quicken Loans owner Dan Gilbert has taken his slice out of the downtown pie along with Ilitch Holdings which is run by the Ilitch family. Gores wants his share. He wants to make downtown better and more vibrant.
So how does he do this? Tellem already has boots on the ground and is meeting with people downtown and around the state.
It is easier to sell things to people from the city of Detroit if you have a huge stake in the ground. Gilbert's stake is Quicken Loans. The Ilitch stake is the Tigers and Red Wings and Fox Theater district.
If you put the Pistons downtown, that opens a lot of doors for Gores. Right now he is perceived as an outsider trying to poke his head into the race. Right now he is Mr. Gores. If he moves the Pistons downtown, he becomes brother Gores. In other words, he is family.
I've heard some lame excuses for keeping the Pistons in Auburn Hills. Much of the Pistons fan base is in Oakland County. If I opened an ice cream stand in Milwaukee, most of my clients would be from Milwaukee. And it's easier and quicker to go downtown than it is Auburn Hills in many parts of Oakland County.
But what about the people in Rochester and Romeo? They go to Tigers and Red Wings games. And last time I checked, this is the Detroit Pistons. Besides you make it easier for people from Grosse Pointe, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Warren and all of Downriver to attend games.
And let's talk about all the walkable places we have in Auburn Hills, all the places you can meet friends nearby before and after a game, all the energy in the area after a win. Oh, wait. The Palace is located in the middle of a field.
It is time to bring the Pistons home where they belong.
(Foster can be reached at Terry.Foster@cbsradio.com)