POWERED BY REAL TIMES MEDIA
Volume 81 – Number 6
michiganchronicle.com
October 18-24, 2017
THEY'RE BACK! Deee-troit basketball:
Pistons return downtown
By Ken Coleman
City residents and African Americans are — for the most part —excited about the Detroit Pistons’ return to the downtown area. The team played its first regularly scheduled home game in Detroit since 1978 on Wednesday. At that time, the squad included NBA Hall of Famer Bob Lanier and was cheered on by bombastic super fans like Leon “the Barber” Bradley, a fixture at home contests. N. Charles Anderson, president and CEO of the Urban League of Detroit and Southeastern Michigan, has attended a couple of pre-season games at Little Caesars Arena (LCA). A longtime ticket package holder, Anderson likes the ease of the one-mile stroll to games from his Midtown office as opposed to the 32-mile trek to northern Oakland County. An African American, he has noticed more blacks working at LCA in contrast to the Palace of Auburn Hills. “From looking at the people, they have community folks working in there so it’s convenient for them getting from home to work,” Anderson, who attends about 20 games a season, said. “I’ve noticed a significant number of African Americans, especially women.” Detroit is approximately 80 percent black. In June, Detroit City Council approved a $34.5-million taxpayer obligation deal to support the Pistons’ move to newly constructed LCA just north of downtown. Ignoring Mayor Coleman A. Young’s passionately plea, the franchise, who played their first regular season game in Detroit at Olympia Stadium on Oct. 23, 1957, bolted from Cobo Arena, located on the city’s riverfront, to sprawling Oakland County’s spacious Pontiac Silverdome in 1978. Team officials cited sluggish ticket sales as a leading reason for the move. The team then shifted from Pontiac to neighboringAuburn Hills in 1989 where it remained until this year. The Pistons now share Little Caesars Arena with the Detroit Red Wings. For the first time in 40 years, all four major sports teams play home games within city limits. Additionally, the New Center area will serve as Pistons headquarters. The team is also building a practice facility to be managed by Henry Ford Health System,called the Henry Ford-Detroit Pistons Performance Center. Dr. Mark Rosentraub, professor of sports management and director of the University of Michigan’s Center for Sport and Policy, estimates that the Pistons move to Detroit could create $600 million in economic impact, which includes about $22 million fan spending each year. “We’re excluding any of the payments that the fans make for tickets and/or luxury seating,” Rosentraub pointed out. “We estimate not less than 636,000 additional visits to downtown.” The analysis suggests that 442 permanent jobs, which included relocating Palace Sports & Entertainment employees as well as Detroit Pistons office and team staff, will bring $290 million of salary income to the city. The move to Detroit also includes a commitment from the organization to repair about 60 inner-city basketball courts at a cost of $2.5 million over the next six years. The team has agreed to donate 20,000 tickets each season to Detroit residents, including children. But not everyone is impressed. Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, one of two no votes on the public financing measure to facilitate the team move, doesn’t believe that Pistons brass offered enough to city residents to justify the taxpayers’ commitment to them. “There is not enough guarantee in writing to what the Pistons will do for Detroiters past the fact of building and relocating the facility in the days to come,” Jones, an African American and currently the longest-serving city legislator, declared at the time. Mary Bailey, another African American Detroit resident and retired public school educator, isn’t a huge fan of the public financing deal either. See PISTONS page A-4
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT INSIDE
The Michigan Chronicle’s Guide to Little Caesars Arena
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