Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 10

FROM THE FRONT PAGE DETROIT FREE PRESS WWW.FREEP.COM 1 OA TUESDAY, OCT. 12, 2004 PISTONS I Title, no Wings bode well "A lot of the public and media focus will be on us this year." TOM WILSON, president and CEO, Palace Sports Entertainment cu I ill i I ft A Pistons cartoon show will debut Oct 30 as part of "Pistons Prime Time" on Channel 20, one of several new plans for attracting advertisers. "We'll still be in the bottom six," Wilson says after raising ticket prices to about $35 a seat this season. Inside the arena this year, fans will be struck by the super-bright LED video boards. Dan Hauser, executive vice president of Palace Sports, said the LED boards create 35 percent more opportunities for advertising sponsorships inside the arena.

And they enhance the fan experience. "Even the national anthem is better," Wilson says, "with the red, white and blue waving all around the building. It's really im pressive. Last season's championship helps justify such investments, but the truth is that the Pistons would be spending anyway. The Palace Sports folks believe they're at the start of something with staying power.

And if not having hockey for a season allows the Pistons to emerge from the Red Wings' shadow and hog the sunshine, well, they'll just put on some shades and enjoy it. Contact TOM WALSH at 313-223-4430 ortwalshfreepress.com. last year at 21,290 per game and are riding a streak of 32 consecutive sellouts, including 13 playoff games last spring. Last year, with an average ticket at $32, the Pistons still had the second lowest prices in the league. Oteon Company From Page 1A (WDWB-TV) that expands air time, increases exposure of the Pistons brand and generates more TV advertising revenue.

Bright, $2-million, light-emit-ting-diode (LED) video boards that encircle the Palace itself and beam from the suspended scoreboard, creating a more exciting fan experience and more advertising revenue. A new Pistons merchandise store inside the aforementioned fioop City Grille restaurant, to fielp the franchise expand on last year's 34-percent jump in merchandise sales. There's even a cartoon show in the works, dubbed "Interplanetary Pistons," in which the NBA's best defenders become superhero defenders of the universe. The Ben Wallace character has magical hair, for example, and the lanky 'toon version of Tayshaun Prince becomes a plastic-man contortionist. The 90-second cartoons will debut Oct.

30 on the weekly "Pistons Prime Time," airing at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays on Channel 20 during the basketball season. Naturally, the cartoon presents a sponsorship opportunity for an eager ad i "TT" i 1 Is x'r-- i -Aym-im vertiser. In Forbes magazine's 2004 tally of NBA franchise values published in February, the Pistons were ranked seventh with a value of $284 million. Don't be surprised to see the Pistons move up several notches next year perhaps to No.

3 behind the Lakers and New York Knicks in the wake of winning the 2004 title. The team is already assured an extra $6 million in regular-season revenue this coming year, based on higher advertising and ticket revenue from sales already booked. Tom Wilson, president and chief executive officer of Palace Sports Entertainment, the umbrella organization for owner Bill Davidson's sports teams and concert venues, says: "A lot of the public and media focus will be on us this year." That's partly because of last year's title, but also because of the National Hockey League's labor impasse, which threatens its whole season. NHL owners locked out the players Sept. 15 after failing to reach a new union contract that would limit how much each team can spend on player salaries.

xy''t 1 rv: VMy 5. "-v-t-i tw. x-, --v. Xx- xxx 'r -4 "x- i. v' "tclXxl! tvx, Jjil 1 -1 1 1 1 iy'-i Vfe.X' rV' i'' X'.

X' 4 7 X' 77 xf i'J" '-5 vi-'x liax? ft.x ix'ix' ffvJ f-' -4 7 -1 X'r; -n vf (7 777'V v. .7 .,7 1 7l7r -X '3 7 .7 it X-v Xi A- -'''X -Xi7 77 XXX.j7X.;7i 7 fy'M V- i.v?--. Happy Anniversary to us. Happy traveling you. Celebrate the 10th anniversary of our partnership with these great international fares.

United and Lufthansa serve more than 120 destinations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Accrue miles with either United Mileage Plus or Lufthansa Miles More? Contact your travel agent or call United at 1-800-538-2929 or Lufthansa at 1-866-752-9247. EUROPEAN FARES: Sample fares from Detroit on Lufthansa and United are each way based on required roundtrip purchase by 1 01 904. Sale fares are for travel commencing between 101904 through 31605. Wilson concedes that the NHL lockout presents an opportunity for the Pistons to beef up its brand identity in a town where the Red Wings have recently been king, thanks to three Stanley Cups and a decade-long run at or near the top of the hockey world.

But there are mixed feelings: Palace Sports also owns the defending Stanley Cup winning hockey team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, so the Pistons' opportunity is Tampa Bay's loss. "Any time there's a labor problem in sports and there's talk of greedy owners or greedy players, it reflects badly on every sport," Wilson says. For the Pistons, though, the outlook is mighty bright. "This is our moment in the sun," Wilson says, talking about Palace Sports' recent decision to partner with the Andiamo restaurant chain in the Hoop City Grille, which is expected to open by mid-November. He's aware that restaurants can fall in and out of public favor quickly, and that several other eateries have failed in the Star Southfield complex on 12 Mile Road near Telegraph.

"But we think there's real substance in the 'Goin' to Work' brand. We have some young players with long-term commitments and we think we've got the kind of team that will resonate in the city for four, five, six or seven years," Wilson says. In this week's issue of Brandweek magazine, the team is praised as one of 10 "Marketers of the Year" alongside McDonald's, Apple, Chrysler and the Las Vegas casino strip for the "Goin' to Work" campaign modeled on the work ethic of Pistons General Manager Joe Dumars. The Hoop City Grille will feature a 94-foot-long bar the length of an NBA basketball court. It also will include a merchandise store.

That's more than 50 percent larger than the store inside the Palace. A studio area will feature a giant-screen television and plush, theater-style seating. The owners hope Pistons players and other celebrities will frequent the joint. It's easy to forget that just four years ago, the Pistons hit bottom Amsterdam'-" 229 Barcelona1 219 Berlin'2 199 Brussels1 2 34 '209 Bucharest'2 '259 Budapest'2 219 Dublin'2 159 Dusseldorf'2 '199 Frankfurt" 189 Geneva'2 '209 Hamburg'234 ,.199 Kiev'23 269 Madrid'25 219 Milan'2 219 Moscow' 2 299 Munich'2 199 Paris'214 209 Prague'2 239 Rome'2 219 Stuttgart' 2 34 M99 Venice' 219 Vienna'4" M99 Warsaw12" 229 Zurich1 2 3 '209 For the fares above, service Is provided by United Airlines end Lufthansa, except where noted. Portions of this service may be operated by the following carriers doing business as United Express or as United Airlines and Lufthanaa codeshara partners: 1 Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation 2.

Mesa Airlines 3. Lufthansa CityLine 4. Eurowlngs 5. Spanair 6. Deutsche Bahn AG 7.

Austrian Airlines 8. Adrts Airwaya 9. LOT Polish Airlines, MIDDLE EASTERNAFRICAN FARES: Sample fares from Detroit on Lufthansa and United are each way based on required roundtrip purchase by 1 01 904. Sale fares are for travel commencing between 101904 through 31605. Abuja' 2 569 Addis Ababa' 2 '569 Amman' 2 349 Asmara' 2 709 Cairo'2 369 Dubai'2 '469 Jeddah1 2 469 Lagos' 2 429 Tel Aviv' 289 For the tares above, earvice is provided by United Airtinee and Lufthansa, except where noted.

Portions of this service may be operated by the following canters doing buemm aa United Expnee or as united Alrtnee and mtthanea oodeehara partner 1. Air Wisconsin Airtinee Corporation 2. Spanair. irvh UNITED 5 IV Anniversary united.com with a 32-50 record and the worst attendance since the team moved to the Palace in 1988. The team responded by doing the unthinkable in pro sports: It cut average ticket prices to an NBA low of about $30 per seat.

Attendance has risen ever since. The Pistons led the NBA in attendance mservation officm are 15 MflK FACTS: Sample fares on Lufthansa and United are each way based on required roundtrip purchase for travel in United Economy on United Air1irwJ and United Express carriers and economy class travel on Lufthansa Ticfcets purchased thraunh (Inilnri per ticket mgher and tickets purchased at airport ticket counters are $10 per ticket higher. Fares purchased through other distribution channels may also be higher. Seats are hrmted and may not be available on all Rlghtsdatea PurehaM naauiramaiiimiTij uiii ljil 7 days advance and ticketed ynthm 72 hours of making reservations or 7 days before departure whichever is earlier, but no later than 101904 Fares appry to point-of-sale only Trw OmDalM: Fares are valid Mondav thmmh TtuTZTVJT. i 7 davs lvanc and ttcketsd wrthtn 72 hours of matona reservations or 7 days before departure whichever is earlier, but no later than 101904.

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Securitv Fee of uo to $10 memmufn per roundtnp or Passenger Facility Charpes of up aiiporl, transportation, embarkation, security, duty, equalization and passenger taxeesurcharges of up to $1 30 apply depending on destination Faroe do MUnrtutothm ZrJSTiZ a S18. which may be collected depending on the itinerary For return travel from some oountrwa, fares do not delude airport iSa epartwS Su to TfMhM rtion may be changed for a fee of t205. p) th. new rllnerary i. withn the parameter, of this offer, minimum 5rou iSLfiS? i ZZZrA arnvu and departure taxes and aori to wwiytfu tm prwfuou um rww nrnwwy wnnm me paramerers mis ottbt, minimum and maximum stay requirements are met and the onatn and rtwstmat, nw tfuvwmTwin wmiva nwr wwrami n.wis iwi-ib-u.

changed if the reservation rs cancelled before the ticketed departure date, the itinerary may be rebooked up to one year from the ongmaJ ticket issue date for a service charge of $200, tf a reservation not cancelled before the ticketed denZium dnti th tr rfhT 1 i 1hZ Trckets are non-retundable. but the return portion may be changed for a $200 (ee, provided the new itinerary is within the parameters of the offer, minimum and maximum slay requirements are met, and the on, and destination am manni 2 r3-'- change without notice. Other restrictions may apply. 2004 United Air Unes. Inc.

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