With just over a month and a half to go before the Detroit Pistons begin their Little Caesars Arena residence, the new arena’s impact is already being felt.
The Detroit Pistons’ regular season schedule was announced recently, and the preseason schedule was officially released just Friday morning. So we know when the Little Caesars Arena era of Pistons’ basketball will begin (October 4th for the preseason, October 18th for the regular season), but we won’t have to wait that long until we see the new arena’s impact.
In fact, LCA is already making an impact for the Pistons.
"Season tickets are selling quickly, according to the Detroit Pistons organization. More than 2,000 new season tickets have been sold with two-and-half months remaining before the start of the season. The Detroit Pistons rank No. 2 in the NBA in new season tickets sales. The majority of the suites have sold out for the year."
Considering the flat note the Pistons ended the 2016-17 season on, this is remarkable. The Pistons were 25th in attendance last year, averaging 15,979 fans, and they had by far the worst percentage of capacity, with just 72.4 percent of seats filled.
The season before, they were 25th in attendance and 27th in capacity, so this surge in new season ticket sales and suites is a big deal for the Pistons, and entirely attributable to Little Caesars Arena.
Next: Tobias Harris' season outlook for the Pistons
Considering the boost in attendance we’re poised to see, a hot start from the Detroit Pistons could bring an atmosphere and home-court advantage we haven’t seen in years.