NBA owner on downtown arenas

Mike0476

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http://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/index.ssf/2012/07/gilbert_detroit_one_of_two_nba.html

"There's a reason why most sports teams are in a downtown core," Gilbert said.

Then, even if the team performs poorly, which the Pistons have in recent years, at least the games bring people into the city center, Gilbert said.

He made the comments after also speaking about the "Catch 22" the downtown Detroit area faces in terms of retail: Retailers are interested in coming in only after more people are downtown, but more people are likely to move downtown only after more retail and housing options are offered.
 
Spot on, although I think he uses "downtown" pretty loosely for some of the other non-Sac/Detroit clubs. Point still stands.
 
That is right, Detroit and Sacramento are the only teams that have their arenas in the burbs according to the article.
 
That is right, Detroit and Sacramento are the only teams that have their arenas in the burbs according to the article.

Oakland.

The railyards is a non starter at this point unless some main attraction gets put in first. Otherwise, it's chicken and the egg with residents and retail.
 
Yeah, and I'm sure there are others too. Not to mention it's really just the city proper he's referring to. The Rose Garden is in the Rose Quarter which is across the river from "downtown Portland". But its also an easy trip by bike, bus, rail from just about anywhere "in town". That's the real point, how easy is it to get to the arena, is it somewhere you're likely to be already, etc. I always hated the drive to Arco. I also considered Staples Center despite being "downtown" a chore to get to when I lived in SoCal.
 
Yeah, and I'm sure there are others too. Not to mention it's really just the city proper he's referring to. The Rose Garden is in the Rose Quarter which is across the river from "downtown Portland". But its also an easy trip by bike, bus, rail from just about anywhere "in town". That's the real point, how easy is it to get to the arena, is it somewhere you're likely to be already, etc. I always hated the drive to Arco. I also considered Staples Center despite being "downtown" a chore to get to when I lived in SoCal.

Oakland arenas/stadium maybe easy to get to, but I don't think anyone wants to go there for anything but the arena/stadium.
 
Actually, the Pistons are the only team to play in the suburbs. The Warriors arena, while being 7 miles south of the heart of downtown Oakland, is still in the Oakland city limits.

Even the Kings play in Sacramento even if the Natomas section is on the outskirts of the city.

Philadelphia, San Antonio and Chicago are the other teams that play within their city limits but outside of downtown. Everyone else is downtown assuming you consider Brooklyn a city of it's own even though it's just a borough in NYC. If it were it's own city, the location of the Net's new arena would qualify as downtown Brooklyn.

I agree wholeheartedly with Gilbert. Suburban stadiums may work for the NFL but not the other 3 major sports. The Pistons are nowhere close to downtown Detroit as it's 30 miles from Detroit. To give you an idea of how out of the way they are compared to other NBA teams, the Warriors are the 2nd farthest team from it's downtown and they're just 7 miles away. Plus, they have an arena that is outdated. It opened the same year that Arco/PBP did.

Not to mention that the Red Wings play in the worst arena in the NHL. Both teams are in need of a new crib so you kill 2 birds with one stone.
 
Yeah, and I'm sure there are others too. Not to mention it's really just the city proper he's referring to. The Rose Garden is in the Rose Quarter which is across the river from "downtown Portland". But its also an easy trip by bike, bus, rail from just about anywhere "in town". That's the real point, how easy is it to get to the arena, is it somewhere you're likely to be already, etc. I always hated the drive to Arco. I also considered Staples Center despite being "downtown" a chore to get to when I lived in SoCal.

I was thinking about Portland and Brooklyn when coming up with the arenas in the city limits but outside of downtown but the Rose Quarter is so close to downtown that I just include it as one of the downtown arenas. It took me just 7 minutes to walk across the bridge and over to the Amtrak station.
 
I was thinking about Portland and Brooklyn when coming up with the arenas in the city limits but outside of downtown but the Rose Quarter is so close to downtown that I just include it as one of the downtown arenas. It took me just 7 minutes to walk across the bridge and over to the Amtrak station.
Being an East Sider I like to make the distinction.

First few years I was here I never went downtown except a few times a year. Now I am there almost daily, but I still prefer the neighborhood feel across the river. Reminds me of where I grew up in East Sac.
 
Actually, the Pistons are the only team to play in the suburbs. The Warriors arena, while being 7 miles south of the heart of downtown Oakland, is still in the Oakland city limits.

Even the Kings play in Sacramento even if the Natomas section is on the outskirts of the city.

Philadelphia, San Antonio and Chicago are the other teams that play within their city limits but outside of downtown. Everyone else is downtown assuming you consider Brooklyn a city of it's own even though it's just a borough in NYC. If it were it's own city, the location of the Net's new arena would qualify as downtown Brooklyn.

I agree wholeheartedly with Gilbert. Suburban stadiums may work for the NFL but not the other 3 major sports. The Pistons are nowhere close to downtown Detroit as it's 30 miles from Detroit. To give you an idea of how out of the way they are compared to other NBA teams, the Warriors are the 2nd farthest team from it's downtown and they're just 7 miles away. Plus, they have an arena that is outdated. It opened the same year that Arco/PBP did. Not to mention that the Red Wings play in the worst arena in the NHL. Both teams are in need of a new crib so you kill 2 birds with one stone.

And the Palace of Auburn Hills cost twice as much to build as Arco and has had major renovation at least once since then. The fact that it could be renovated was an advantage Arco doesn't have.
 
And the Palace of Auburn Hills cost twice as much to build as Arco and has had major renovation at least once since then. The fact that it could be renovated was an advantage Arco doesn't have.

That's one of many summations of how bad PBP is. A building that needs to be replaced cost more than twice as much as PBP and is generally regarded as a much better facility.
 
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