Patterson calls foul on Bing for trying to steal Pistons
Leonard N. Fleming / The Detroit News

Detroit --Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson is taking a shot at Mayor Dave Bing for trying to lure the Detroit Pistons downtown.

Patterson on Friday lectured Bing on regional cooperation. But turnabout is fair play, so Patterson said he's begun efforts to lure the Detroit Red Wings to The Palace of Auburn Hills.

"I call that poaching," said Patterson on Friday. "I thought we're all supposed to be regional players, but that's not developing good relationships when you deliberately" try to lure the Pistons to Detroit.

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The volley came after Bing told media executives on Thursday he hopes the Pistons to move back to the city and wants a new arena for both the Pistons and Red Wings. Bing, who played for the Pistons when the franchise was downtown, met Thursday with Tom Wilson, an executive for Wings owners Ilitch Holdings who is charged with finding a new home for the hockey team.

Bing's spokeswoman, Karen Dumas, would only say the meeting was of a "personal nature." Still, it prompted Patterson to phone Wilson on Friday and announce that "we're opening negotiations" for the Wings to move to Auburn Hills.

"We'll take them out here for six years," Patterson said, until the Wings find a permanent facility.

The flap comes amid uncertainty about both teams and follows Bing's efforts to improve relations with the suburbs.

They were strained under former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, but Bing has repeatedly reached out to suburban officials. During a Bloomfield Hills breakfast last month, he asked suburbanites for ideas to help turn the city around. Bing reiterated his commitment to regionalism in early March at a Downtown Detroit Partnership luncheon.

But Patterson said Bing's remarks don't make him a good neighbor and he doesn't appreciate that the mayor didn't reach out to him before speaking out about the Pistons.

"Bing didn't like it when Mayor Fouts of Warren went after GM," Patterson said, referring to Fouts' efforts to lure General Motors from the Renaissance Center last year.

What's more, Patterson said he's not "buying this 'bring them home' line" from Bing because if "he wants them to go home then he wants them to go to Fort Wayne."

The Pistons were founded in the northern Indiana city but left for Detroit in 1957. The team left for Pontiac in 1978 before settling into The Palace in 1988.

Dumas, Bing's spokeswoman, said "the mayor's response to a comment (Thursday) is what has sparked this whole conversation and barrage of coverage. There are no formal plans or discussions." Dumas said to "continue repeating this ... is causing unnecessary misunderstanding. It's time to move to another topic."

Matt Dobek, vice president of public relations for the Pistons, declined comment.

Pete Auger, the city manager of Auburn Hills, said he's not privy to any serious conversations about the Pistons leaving his city but "obviously we would like the Pistons to stay in Auburn Hills. In the spirit of regionalism, we want to see the Pistons remain in Michigan."

Auger said it "makes good business sense" for the successful Pistons franchise to remain in a "championship city like Auburn Hills."

Still, Patterson said he's taking the threat of the Pistons leaving "fairly seriously" but promises to now play hard ball with Detroit.

The death last March of longtime Pistons owner Bill Davidson and his widow's intentions to sell the team have increased speculation about its fate.

The Wings' lease with the city and Joe Louis Arena expires in June. Patterson said he believes the Wings and the Ilitch family "gave up on their lease at Joe Louis Arena."

But Patterson said he doesn't believe Michigan's economy would allow public dollars to finance a new stadium.

Terry Foster contributed. lfleming@detnews.com (313) 222-2072

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100313/METRO01/3130351/1127/sports0102/Patterson-calls-foul-on-Bing-for-trying-to-steal-Pistons#ixzz0i42Dcxse

i'd be sad to see them leave auburn hills, mostly because of the fond memories there. i suppose the benefit would a new stadium, even though the palace never really felt old to me.

this should have some positive impact on getting more people in detroit.

Couldn't care less, i live on the other side of the state. I don't see why it would matter either way.

It's all talk. The Pistons aren't moving unless the Palace is destroyed. I can't believe that anyone would buy the Pistons without the Palace. Bing feels it should be in Detroit proper, and I'm sure has all sorts of good memories of playing at Cobo. But that's not gonna change squat.

Unless Detroit stumbles on 400 million dollars it wants to waste on an arena. Scour those books dude.

Unless Detroit stumbles on 400 million dollars it wants to waste on an arena. Scour those books dude.

would detroit foot the bill for the arena? i thought whoever ends up buying the pistons would be paying the bill.

But why would they do that when they just bought the Palace? that's the point that makes it all so silly.

would detroit foot the bill for the arena? i thought whoever ends up buying the pistons would be paying the bill.
Remember, "Ford" Field was mostly paid for and is owned by the city of Detroit. Clay Ford pays $2 million/year for naming rights.

Why on earth should the Pistons pay _anything_ so they can be the 3rd or 4th best treated team in the city after Bing is gone?

BTW, I voted "no" in the poll mostly because something really fucked up would've had to happen for the Pistons to return to Detroit proper, and that fucked-up thing would probably have been really bad.

Yeah it won't happen. The Palace is one of the nicer arenas in the NBA. Maybe in 20+ years when it becomes dated, but no way now.

If the shikse sells off PS&E separately, anything could happen (including leaving the state).

I'd buy season tickets if they were downtown.

Private poll = fail

Since the poll asked if I liked the idea I voted yes.

There's no way it happens of course, unless there's a billionaire with an appetite for pain and a fatal attraction to downtown lurking out there waiting to snap up the pistons.

Speaking of teams for sale, this somewhat lengthy article touches on a range of issues relating to the market for sports franchises.

Hoping to Sell, Team Owners Face a New Opponent: Recession (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/sports/17teams.html?hp)


For decades, sports teams weathered recessions remarkably well. Ticket and advertising sales sometimes dipped, but teams continued to sell at a profit despite the headwinds buffeting the broader economy, according to research by Moag & Company, which brokers sales of teams.

But John Moag, the company’s chairman, said this recession had been drastically different. “The impact of the stock and real estate devaluation on franchise ownership is indirectly, but very certainly, impacting the stability of a number of professional sports franchises,” he said.

The effect of the financial crisis has been seen even in sales of marquee teams like the Chicago Cubs ($845 million) and the Montreal Canadiens ($550 million), which almost certainly would have received more in a thriving market.

But the sums paid for financially weakened teams like the Bobcats suggest a growing gap between the value of stronger and weaker franchises.

It's all becoming quite clear. Joe D has been purposely sabotaging the team in an effort to drastically reduce its value on the open market. Look for a "friend" of Joe's to swoop in once the value has hit rock bottom and scoop up the team, instituting Joe as team president and minority shareholder. It's all pretty obvious. Joe D also caused the recession.

Reading the above 5 years later is amusing.

Here's Drew Sharpie talking about the Pistons becoming 4th class citizens in Detroit yet again....

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2015/06/26/drew-sharp-detroit-pistons/29380321/

But the real battle line between Gores' Palace Sports and Entertainment and the Ilitch family's Olympia Entertainment isn't basketball vs. hockey. It's about which venue will become the primary destination for the top-drawer concerts and other nonsports activities that fill an annual events calendar. That is a fight the Palace can't win against a revitalized downtown district with a new state-of-the-art arena that is a close walk or light-rail ride away from hotels, bars and restaurants.

And of course, the answer is -- a whole lotta people won't want to hassle with Detroit because it's not worth the hassle.
That's how the Palace and Pine Knob succeed even though they're in "the sticks".

Detroit revitalization efforts under Archer in the '90s didn't jeopardize the Palace.

They also didn't revitalize Detroit.