The Palace of Auburn Hills – one of the most notable NBA arenas of all time, and former home of the Detroit Pistons.

The Detroit Pistons are a professional basketball team based in Detroit, Michigan. The team was originally formed in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1941 as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, and later changed their name to the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1948. Originally a member of the National Basketball League (NBL) the team later also joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The NBL and BAA merged and became the NBA in 1949, and the team would then become part of the merged league. The franchise was moved to Detroit in 1957. The Pistons have won three NBA championships so far: one in 1989, another in 1990, and a third in 2004.

The team had originally competed in Detroit’s Olympia Stadium, Memorial Building as Cobo Arena. In 1978, the team’s home was relocated to the Pontiac Silverdome Stadium as team owner Bill Davidson had refused to share the Joe Louis Arena with the Detroit Red Wings. For the next ten years, the Pistons would compete here, until the Palace opened in 1988.

It was actually in 1985, when a group led by Davidson had come to the decision to build a brand new arena in Auburn Hills. A groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the new arena was held in June of 1986. The stadium was constructed entirely via private finding between then-Pistons owner Bill Davidson and two developers. Construction of the arena cost $90 million.

Upon opening in 1988, the palace contained 180 luxury suites, which at the time of its construction was viewed as an unnecessary amount by many. However, over and over again, all 180 would continue to be leased. Additions took place in December 2005, when five underground luxury suites were added. The suites were each 450 square feet and rented for $450,000 per year. Only a year later in 2006, eight more luxury suites were opened. These ranged in size from 800 to 1,200 square feet and would rent for $350,000 per year.

The Palace has been widely considered the first modern-style NBA arena built, and quickly became a staple for the design of other modern arenas. As other arenas have been built in North America over the years, they have continued to follow the architectural design and layout of the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The arena’s address – 6 Championship Drive – reflected the Pistons’ three NBA titles and the Shock’s three WNBA titles at the time. The Detroit Shock were a Women’s National Basketball Association team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. In 2009, the team moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and later in 2015 to Dallas, Texas. They changed their name to the Dallas Wings in 2015.

The Palace eventually became one of the oldest standing arenas in the NBA. Thanks to its forward-thinking design, it continued to operate while others became obsolete. Other structures built around the same time, such as the Charlotte Coliseum, Miami Arena and Bradley Center had all been demolished due to their lack of amenities. With a lack of luxury suites or other revenue-generating features, which helped to keep pro sports teams financially successful and able to continue competing, they were forced to demolish, or in the case of Sleep Train Arena, replace with something newer and up-to-date.  

Over the years, Palace Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) had spent $117.5 million upgrading and renovating the arena. In the mid-2000s the company had also decided to add a new high definition JumboTron, new LED video monitors and over 950 feet of ribbon display technology, which was purchased and installed by Daktronics. 

During a game on November 19, 2004, a fight broke out at the arena. A disagreement on the court led to a fight between members of the Pistons and the opposing team, the Indiana Pacers. Just as the fight had begun to die down, a fan threw a cup of Diet Coke at Pacers forward Ron Artest. This angered Artest to a level where he decided to jump into the crowd and start a fight between players and spectators. The fight, now famously known as “Malice at the Palace” or the “Basketbrawl” resulted in the suspension of nine players, as well as criminal charges for five. Criminal charges were also filed against five spectators, and they were banned from attending any future games at the Palace. A brawl had also happened between the Detroit Shock and Los Angeles Sparks on July 21, 2008.

Aside from being the home of the Detroit Pistons and some great sports brawls, the arena also held numerous other events, including concerts. Some notable concerts at the Palace include artists such as Sting, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Grand Funk Railroad, Coldplay, Aerosmith (played there 14 times), Van Halen, U2, The Cure, Bon Jovi, Madonna and more. Another notable moment in the world of music was on March 31, 1995. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was nearly stabbed while performing with band mate Robert Plant during their No Quarter Tour. The assailant was 23-year-old Lance Alworth Cunningham. He believed that Led Zeppelin’s music contained satanic messages, and made the decision to rush the stage in an attempt to stab Page with a knife. Security was able to stop him within 50 feet of the stage.

The final NBA game played at the Palace was on April 10, 2017. The Pistons lost to the Washington Wizards, with a score of 105-101. After this, the Pistons went on to play at Little Caesars Arena, a new multi-purpose venue located in Midtown Detroit. The new arena was built by Olympia Entertainment, and replaced the former Joe Louis Arena as home of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. Shortly after the final game, Bob Seger played the final concert at the Palace on September 23, 2017. This was followed shortly after by the final event at the arena – the Taste of Auburn Hills on October 12, 2017.

A scoreboard installed at the Palace in 2014 was recently purchased by the Arizona Coyotes of the NHL. It was used to replace the old one at Gila River Arena at the beginning of the 2018-19 season.

The arena had stayed in great shape between 2017-2019, and was in talks of being purchased by Oakland University. A deal never went through, and the arena remained empty. There had also been talks between this time of possible demolition and redevelopment into use for a new auto supplier headquarters and research and development parks.

On June 24, 2019, the arena had finally been sold to a joint venture with plans to demolish and redevelop the area into a mixed-used office park. Demolition began February 2020.