After closely examining this photo I understand why there isn't anyone in the stands. Look at that freaking mess of a lineup out there: PG: Teen Wolf SG: Collider SF: Bad Porn PF: Bucket 'O Turd (aka Irish Charlie) C: Monroe ...I'm cool with paying to see 1/5 of the guys on the floor in this photo. I'm sure everyone who was there left. If you subbed-in Max for Monroe and the jumbotron scoreboard thingy suddenly fell from the rafters, crushing all of the Pistons that were in the game at the time; it might be the best thing that ever happend to the franchise! (ooops, I just noticed that the dude that I thought was Maggette is actually D-Wilkens. ...oh well.)
I like how Bynum is just casually walking toward the sidelines. Monroe got major air laying it all on the line for a shot block attempt. Charlie is definitely breaking into a speed walk. Wilkins is pushing fans out of the arena with his anti-fan forcefield. And Stuckey has the unenviable task of singlehandedly trying to box out a 7 foot tall insane Brazillian while getting elbowed in the throat. Not surprisingly, this game ended up 6 to 1 in favor of Cleveland (it was cancelled midway through the 1st quarter... officially because of the mercy rule which can be instituted at the ref's discretion).
There is actually a headline at RealGM saying Pistons got the biggest drop of attendance in the NBA over the past 10 years.
Put Drummond on posters everywhere saying for every fan that rocks up, we will throw an alley oop to this monster and see what he can do. Full arena again
When the Pistons win, the next game at the Palace is discounted as much as the point differential. For instance, our last win was at Cleveland, 104-97. So, have the prices reduced 7% for the next home game. Have the discounts cumulative for win streaks to keep the fans engaged. So, during our ONLY win streak (2 games) this season, we beat Portland 108-101 and Phoenix 117-77. That would've been 7+40 for a 47% discount for the Cleveland game on 12/3. Of course, considering our putrid record, they may want to do this based only on the home games.
I wish I was the guy in the picture wearing a jacket and looking up........ He's getting his money's worth with that view.
Gores should consider a FREE BEER NIGHT promotion. He'd lose some money on the game of course, but it might really get some life in the Palace for a game. A typical draft beer would cost about 50 cents per cup by my guess. 20,000 fans x 4 beers a piece = 80,000 beers. Multiply that by 50 cents and you $40,000 to pull off the promotion. Charlie V costs $98,000 per game in comparison. So, if we didn't have Charlie, the organization could go with FREE BEER SEASON and be more profitable than they currently are. Which would be more fan friendly? Of course, if we had free beer all season, the Palace would probably have at least double the average attendance and ticket sales would make a lot of the money back. I'm sure there are laws against giving tens of thousands of people free alcohol like that, but it would be fun to see.
Personally, I love this idea. Practically, I think it would end with Malice at the Palace. Especially with the team we have now.
Easy fix. Just hang nets between the court and the crowd to stop all flying debris. Staff the sidelines with dozens of bouncers with TASERs. And if it still happened, well, at least we'd get some airtime on ESPN again.
The Cleveland Indians had a 10 cent beer night once during a Tiger game (1970s) and the fans basically rioted in the stands. Police had to be called out to restore order.........and haul away a bunch of drunks. I really believe the Palace crowd would behave better.....than those from cleveland.
