The Pistons moving to Detroit?

[geerussell]

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.

[geerussell]

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

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.

[Vinny]

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.

[Uncle Mxy]

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/nb...tons/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.

[Fool]

They also didn't revitalize Detroit.