The Detriot Pistons are enjoying their first season in Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit after being in the suburbs for many years. The move has also helped the team sell more tickets according to Ron Beard of the Detroit News:
“Last season, the Pistons ranked 25th in the NBA in attendance, with a total of 655,141 fans in 41 home games. That’s an average of 15,979 per game — or about 72.1 percent of available tickets. That percentage ranked last in the league last season.
The numbers this year are a bit more encouraging. The attendance figures have jumped to 531,316 total, ranking 19th in the league, averaging about 17,139 in 31 home games. They have five sellouts this season — compared to two all of last season”
Although the increase is nice, they are really hoping to take a big jump forward next year, especially with the addition of a superstar, Blake Griffin.
The increase also hasn't seemed to have any bigger of a jump since Griffin came onboard. In the first home game with Griffin, they drew 17,481 fans, but only two games later that number was back down to 13,810 fans.
The Pistons have 10 games remaining and they are in the middle of a playoff race, so it will be interesting to watch if the numbers increase.
They are currently sitting in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, 1.5 games behind the Miami Heat who sit in 8th place.
If they want to make the playoffs, they are going to need to use their home crowds to their advantage, and hope to steal a few games on the road.
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