Who owns them?
Palace Sports and Entertainment owns the Pistons. The owner is Karen Davidson, who has owned the team outright since 2009 when her husband, Bill Davidson, a former entrepeneur passed away. Bill and Karen owned the team since 1974, where the Pistons won three NBA titles under their watch.
The team is currently in the process of being sold to Mike Ilitch, the founder of Little Caesar's Pizza and who also owns major sports teams in the MLB's Detroit Tigers and the NHL's Detroit Red Wings.
Does Ownership Own other teams and facilities?
Ownership owns the Palace at Auburn Hills, which is where the Pistons play. Auburn Hills is about 30-35 miles north of Motown. After the ownership change, it is believed that the Pistons will likely move back into town after the Wings get a new arena, where their current facility, Joe Louis Arena is 31 years old and counting.
Bill Davidson also owned the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning from 2000-2007, where they won the Stanley Cup in 2003-2004. He also owned the WNBA's Detroit Shock from 1997-2009 when Karen sold it to Tulsa investors who moved the team out there. The Shock won championships in 2003, 2006, and 2008. Davidson is the only owner to have won an NBA, NHL, and WNBA title in the same year if not the only one to have done so altogether.
Do I think that Ownership is doing a good job?
I'll say yes for the Davidson era. The Pistons packed the house during the Bad Boys II/Chauncey era and made numerous runs to the Conference Finals, two runs to the Finals, and a championship in 2003-2004.
Right now, it's tempting to say no because fewer butts are in the seats, 99% avg in 2008-2009; 84% avg in 2009-2010 and 73% avg this year so far. But a team that's in the midst of a 100% ownership change will be in total flux. This isn't like the ownership change the Wizards and Bobcats had where minority owners became majority ones. We'd also have to consider that Detroit is going through a really rough economic time right now, and that the arena is in the exurbs of town so that makes it harder for people to get tix for games, especially if the team isn't winning and when the team's direction is just scatterbrained with an ownership change to a completely new owner in the mix.
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