Palace Intrigue

The recession, coupled with the death last year of Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson, could force the basketball team on the sales block and into a shared arena with the NHL’s Red Wings.

Karen Davidson inherited the team after the death of her husband, and she confirmed Jan. 21 that she is exploring a sale of the team and others are in talks with the Red Wings about sharing a venue.

The Pistons currently call the Palace of Auburn Hills home. Palace Sports & Entertainment oversees the team and the arena, among other venues.

A joint arena for the Pistons and Red Wings is “logical,” Palace Sports & Entertainment President Tom Wilson told Crain’s Detroit Business. “If we were together, we’d sell a lot more suites.”

Lenders would like that, because a shared facility would host 82 guaranteed game days and fewer dark ones. But Wilson added, “We’re not anywhere near to having those conversations.”

And it would require an agreement with Detroit’s Olympia Entertainment, which is negotiating with the Motor City on a new lease at aging Joe Louis Arena. Olympia is the facility management company for Mike and Marian Ilitch, who own the Red Wings.

That might not be a far-fetched idea. Locals are already speculating that Palace Sports & Entertainment has offered a five-year deal to the Red Wings to play in Auburn Hills while a new arena is built, possibly near Detroit properties the Ilitch family has already been amassing.

The Ilitches have been investing heavily in downtown Detroit, near their Little Caesars Enterprises headquarters, Comerica Park, the Fox Theatre and MotorCity Casino.

In the meantime, Davidson told Crain’s that her late husband’s estate is still being settled and it “remains to be seen” if the Pistons, the Palace of Auburn Hills and PSE would be sold together or separately.