The Palace of Auburn Hills
Encyclopedia
The Palace of Auburn Hills, often referred to simply as The Palace, is a sport
Sports in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan is home to four professional American sports teams. It is a important sports center as one of twelve cities in the United States to have teams from the four major North American sports....

s and entertainment venue in Auburn Hills, Michigan
Auburn Hills, Michigan
Auburn Hills is a city in Metro Detroit, Oakland County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 21,412 at the 2010 census. The city was formed in 1983 when Pontiac Township became the City of Auburn Hills.-Economy:...

, a suburb on the northern outskirts of Detroit, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Opened in 1988, it is the home of the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...

 of the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA). It was also the home of the Detroit Shock
Detroit Shock
The Detroit Shock was a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006 and 2008 WNBA champion...

 of the WNBA
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...

 (1998–2009, now playing as the Tulsa Shock), Detroit Vipers
Detroit Vipers
The Detroit Vipers was an International Hockey League team. The team was founded in 1994, and played at The Palace of Auburn Hills.-Beginning:...

 of the IHL (1994–2001), Detroit Safari
Detroit Safari
The Detroit Safari was a member of the Continental Indoor Soccer League that played at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Their owners, the Palace Sports Group were awarded a franchise on November 4, 1993. Their star player and unofficial coach was experienced indoor player Andy Chapman...

 of the CISL
Continental Indoor Soccer League
The Continental Indoor Soccer League was an indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997.-History:When the Major Soccer League folded in the summer of 1992, two of its former teams joined a group of hockey and basketball arena owners led by Ron Weinstein who wanted to create a league to...

 (1994–1997), and the Detroit Fury
Detroit Fury
The Detroit Fury were an Arena Football League team. The team began play in 2001 and was based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at The Palace of Auburn Hills, also the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. The team was co-owned by William Davidson, who owned the Pistons, along with...

 of the AFL (2001–2004).

History

From 1957 to 1978, the Pistons competed in Detroit's Olympia Stadium
Detroit Olympia
Olympia Stadium, better known as the Detroit Olympia and nicknamed The Old Red Barn, stood at 5920 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan from 1927 until 1987. It was best known as the home of the Detroit Red Wings hockey team of the National Hockey League from its opening until...

 and Cobo Arena. In 1978, owner Bill Davidson
William Davidson
William Morse "Bill" Davidson, J. D. was an American businessman who was President, Chairman and CEO of Guardian Industries, one of the world's largest manufacturers of architectural and automotive glass...

 elected not to share the new Joe Louis Arena
Joe Louis Arena
Joe Louis Arena, nicknamed The Joe and JLA is a hockey arena located at 600 Civic Center Drive in Detroit, Michigan. It is the home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. Completed in 1979 at a cost of $57 million, Joe Louis Arena is named after boxer and former heavyweight...

 with the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...

, and instead chose to relocate the team to the Pontiac Silverdome
Pontiac Silverdome
The Silverdome is a domed stadium located in the city of Pontiac, Michigan, USA, which sits on . It was the largest stadium in the National Football League until FedEx Field in suburban Washington, D.C...

, a venue constructed for football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, where it remained for the next decade. While the Silverdome could accommodate massive crowds, it offered substandard sight lines for basketball viewing. A group led by Davidson bought vacant land in Auburn Hills from Joseph Shewach and built The Palace there for the relatively low cost of $70 million, using entirely private funding. The Davidson family held a controlling interest in the arena until Tom Gores purchased majority share in 2011.

Basketball

The arena opened in time for the Pistons' first NBA championship season, in 1988–1989. Since then, when one of The Palace's basketball occupants has won a championship, the number on its address has changed. Its current address is 6 Championship Drive, reflecting the Pistons' three NBA titles and the Detroit Shock's three WNBA titles (the Detroit Vipers' 1997 Turner Cup championship has not been officially recognized in the arena's address; the address also remained unchanged despite the Shock's move to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2010). The original address was 3777 Lapeer Road.

Concerts

The first musical act to perform at The Palace was former Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...

 lead vocalist Sting, on opening night.

The Palace was the site of an assassination attempt on Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 guitarist Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

, while he was on tour, with former band mate Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...

, during their "No Quarter Tour". On March 31, 1995, Lance Alworth Cunningham, a 23-year-old, who thought that Led Zeppelin music contained "satanic messages", tried rushing the stage with a knife. He waited until the song "Kashmir
Kashmir (song)
"Kashmir" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin from their sixth album Physical Graffiti, released in 1975. It was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant over a period of three years, with the lyrics dating back to 1973.-Overview:The song centres around a signature chord progression...

" started and then made his charge for the stage, waving the weapon. The man was tackled by patrons and security about 50 feet from the stage.

On August 25 and 26, 2001, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

 performed two sold out shows on her Drowned World Tour
Drowned World Tour
The Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993...

. The shows were recorded for a live broadcast on HBO and were later released on DVD.

The Palace played host to the politically-motivated Vote for Change
Vote for Change
The Vote for Change tour was a politically-motivated American popular music concert tour that took place in October 2004. The tour was presented by MoveOn.org to benefit America Coming Together. The tour was held in swing states and was designed to encourage people to register and vote...

 Tour on October 3, 2004, featuring performances by My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket is an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky.The band consists of Jim James , Tom 'Two-Tone Tommy' Blankenship , Patrick Hallahan , Carl Broemel , and Bo Koster .-History:My Morning Jacket was...

, Jurassic 5
Jurassic 5
Jurassic 5 was an American alternative hip hop group formed in 1993 from members of two previous groups, Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee by rappers Charles Stewart , Dante Givens , Courtenay Henderson , Marc Stuart , and disc jockeys Mark Potsic and Lucas Macfadden...

, Ben Harper
Ben Harper
Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...

 & The Innocent Criminals and The Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...

 (with unannounced guest Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

).

Other uses

The arena has hosted WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

 World War 3
WCW World War 3
World War 3 was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling. The pay-per-view's title also was the name of its signature match, a three-ring, sixty-man battle royal which was their answer to the World Wrestling Federation's Royal Rumble. The event...

 pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...

 on two occasions in 1997 and in 1998 as well as WWF's SummerSlam
SummerSlam (1993)
SummerSlam was the sixth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on August 30, 1993 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan....

 in 1993. The Palace hosted TNA
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...

's Slammiversary
Slammiversary (2009)
Slammiversary was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on June 21, 2009 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the fifth event under the Slammiversary chronology and used to commemorate the seventh...

 event on June 21, 2009, as well as UFC 123
UFC 123
UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 20, 2010 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan...

 on November 20, 2010. The Professional Bull Riders (PBR) hosted a Built Ford Tough Series
Built Ford Tough Series
The Built Ford Tough Series is the "major league" tour of the PBR competitions. It is a 30-city event series culminating in the PBR World Finals every year in Las Vegas, Nevada. The top 45 riders of the PBR compete in the BFTS with the rankings determined by points and money won...

 tour event at the Palace in 2001 and 2007; in 2001 the tour was known as the Bud Light Cup.

"The Malice at the Palace"

On November 19, 2004, a fight broke out between members of the NBA's Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...

. As the on-court fight died down, a fan threw a cup at Pacers forward Ron Artest
Ron Artest
Metta World Peace is an American professional basketball player and rapper who is currently with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. World Peace gained a reputation as one of the league's premier defenders as he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2004...

, who then rushed into the crowd, sparking a melee between players and spectators. The fight resulted in the suspension of nine players, criminal charges against five players, and criminal charges against five spectators. The offending fans were banned from attending games at The Palace. In the aftermath of the fight, the NBA decided to increase the security presence between players and spectators. The fact that the fight took place at The Palace of Auburn Hills led it become colloquially referred to as "The Malice at the Palace" and the "Basketbrawl."

The Palace was also the site of a brawl between the WNBA's Shock and Sparks on July 21, 2008.

Facility information

The Palace of Auburn Hills has the largest capacity in the NBA (22,076), which has helped the Pistons to record the league's highest home attendance from 2002–2008. The Pistons court was named the "William Davidson Court", in honor of the late owner, prior to the home opener on October 28, 2009. The Palace's large seating capacity of up to 24,276 for center-stage concerts and suburban location have made it very popular for large concerts and major boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 matches.

The Palace was built with 180 luxury suites
Luxury box
A Luxury box is a special seating section located within stadiums, arenas and other sporting and entertainment venues. They are typically located in the midsection of a stadium grandstand, usually providing the best views of the event...

, considered an exorbitant number when it opened, but it has consistently managed to lease virtually all of them. In December 2005, the Palace added five underground luxury suites, each containing 450 square feet (41.8 m²) of space and renting for $450,000 per year. Eight more luxury suites, also located below arena level, were opened in February 2006. They range in size from 800 to 1200 sq ft (74.3 to 111.5 m2) and rent for $350,000 annually. The architectural design of the Palace, including its multiple tiers of luxury suites, has been used as the basis for many other professional sports arenas in North America since its construction, including Scotiabank Place
Scotiabank Place
Scotiabank Place is a multi-purpose arena, located in Kanata, a suburban district of Ottawa, Ontario. It is home to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. It has also hosted the Canadian University Men's Basketball Championship...

 in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, also designed by Rossetti Associates. One trend that the arena has not partaken in is that of selling its naming rights
Naming rights
In the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...

 to a sponsor; it is one of five NBA arenas that has not done so, and just one of eight basketball arenas owned by their respective NBA franchise.

Although The Palace is now one of the oldest arenas in the NBA, the Pistons have shown little interest in replacing it, as it already contains the amenities that most NBA teams have sought in new arenas. The Palace installed a new High-Definition JumboTron
Jumbotron
A JumboTron is a large-screen television using technology developed by Sony, typically used in sports stadiums and concert venues to show close-up shots of the event. Although JumboTron is a registered trademark owned by the Sony Corporation, the word jumbotron is often used by the public as a...

 monitor, new LED video monitors, and more than 950 feet (289.6 m) of ribbon display technology from Daktronics
Daktronics
Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video board, scoreboards, digital billboards and related products. The company is best known for its electronic LED displays...

. in the mid-2000s. It is widely considered to be the first of the modern-style NBA arenas, and its large number of luxury suites was a major reason for the building boom of new NBA arenas in the 1990s. However, there is talk of building a new arena for both the Detroit Red Wings and the Pistons in Downtown Detroit
Downtown Detroit
Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a residential area of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Downtown is bordered by the Lodge Freeway to the west, the Fisher Freeway to the north, Interstate 375 to the east, and the Detroit River to the south.Downtown contains much historic...

 before 2015.

Banners

The Palace of Auburn Hills has several different types of banners hanging from its rafters. These include all time great Pistons, both Pistons and Shock team achievements.

Retired numbers:
  • William Davidson
  • Jack McCloskey
    Jack McCloskey
    John William "Jack" McCloskey is a retired American basketball player, coach and executive in the NBA. He served in World War II as a lieutenant commanding a landing ship for Marines. He played one game for the Philadelphia Warriors during the 1953 season, scoring 6 points in that game...

  • 2 Chuck Daly
    Chuck Daly
    Charles Jerome "Chuck" Daly was an American basketball head coach. He led the Detroit Pistons to consecutive National Basketball Association Championships in 1989 and 1990, and the Dream Team to the men's basketball gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He had a 14-year NBA coaching...

  • 4 Joe Dumars
    Joe Dumars
    Joe Dumars III , nicknamed Joe D, is a retired American basketball player in the NBA, and currently the Detroit Pistons' President of Basketball Operations....

  • 10 Dennis Rodman
    Dennis Rodman
    Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...

  • 11 Isiah Thomas
    Isiah Thomas
    Isiah Lord Thomas III , nicknamed "Zeke",is the men's basketball coach for the FIU Golden Panthers, and a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association from 1981 until 1994. He led the "Bad Boys" to the NBA...

  • 15 Vinnie Johnson
    Vinnie Johnson
    Vincent "Vinnie" Johnson is a retired American professional basketball player and a key player as sixth man for the Detroit Pistons during the team's NBA championships of 1989 and 1990.-College basketball career:...

  • 16 Bob Lanier
    Bob Lanier (basketball)
    Robert Jerry "Bob" Lanier, Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played for the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA.Lanier was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992....

  • 21 Dave Bing
    Dave Bing
    David "Dave" Bing is the mayor of Detroit, Michigan, a businessman, and a retired American professional basketball player who played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association , primarily for the Detroit Pistons...

  • 40 Bill Laimbeer
    Bill Laimbeer
    William "Bill" Laimbeer, Jr. is a retired National Basketball Association player for the Detroit Pistons. Playing at center, the 6'11" Laimbeer was a four-time All-Star and integral part of the Pistons teams that won two championships...



Team accomplishments:
Detroit Pistons:
  • 1988–89 Eastern Conference Champions
  • 1988–89 NBA Champions
  • 1989–90 Eastern Conference Champions
  • 1989–90 NBA Champions
  • 2001–02 Central Division Champions
  • 2002–03 Central Division Champions
  • 2003–04 Eastern Conference Champions
  • 2003–04 NBA Champions
  • 2004–05 Eastern Conference Champions
  • 2004–05 Central Division Champions
  • 2005–06 Central Division Champions
  • 2006–07 Central Division Champions
  • 2007–08 Central Division Champions


Detroit Shock:
  • 2003 WNBA Champions
  • 2006 WNBA Champions
  • 2008 WNBA Champions


Musical acts:
In 2008, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the arena, it was announced that The Palace would be raising banners to the ceiling for musical acts that have had multiple sold-out shows at venues owned by Palace Sports & Entertainment. Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...

 was the first to get a banner, in February, followed by Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....

, in July. In addition, these artists received banners outside the building on lightpoles along with other members of Palace Sports & Entertainment's most attended acts, including Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...

, Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...

, Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...

, The Barenaked Ladies, Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...

, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

, Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

, Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

, Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy "Tim" McGraw is an American country singer and actor. Many of McGraw's albums and singles have topped the country music charts with total album sales in excess of 40 million units in the US, making him the eighth best-selling artist, and the third best-selling country singer, in the...

, Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...

 and Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

.

See also

  • DTE Energy Music Theatre
    DTE Energy Music Theatre
    Originally built by the Nederlander Organization in the early 1970s, the DTE Energy Music Theatre is a 15,274-seat amphitheater located in Clarkston, Michigan. It was originally known as the Pine Knob Music Theatre, due to its proximity to the nearby Pine Knob ski area and golf course...

  • Sports in Detroit
    Sports in Detroit
    Detroit, Michigan is home to four professional American sports teams. It is a important sports center as one of twelve cities in the United States to have teams from the four major North American sports....

  • Tourism in metropolitan Detroit
    Tourism in metropolitan Detroit
    Tourism in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan is a significant factor for the region's culture and for its economy, comprising nine percent of the area's two million jobs. About 15.9 million people visit Metro Detroit annually, spending an estimated $4.8 billion. Detroit is one of the largest American...


External links

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