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With a new arena comes new excitement from the fans. Along with that fan excitement usually comes the opportunity to host an All Star Game. The Pistons are hoping to do exactly that in either 2020 or 2021.
The 2018 All Star game is going to be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It is looking likely that the 2019 game will be held in Charlotte. So 2020 is the earliest possible year the Pistons could potentially host the game.
The fact that the Pistons are opening a new arena and submitted a bid for both 2020 and 2021 means that they are likely to get rewarded the opportunity to host in one of those two years. It is not a guarantee, but most professional sports leagues reward teams with a new arena the opportunity to host an all star game or Super Bowl in the case of the NFL.
One of the main competitors for the Pistons All Star game bid in 2020 will be the Cleveland Cavaliers. They recently renovated their arena, the Quicken Loans Arena, and sources with the Cavaliers seem to think that the 2020 game is theirs. This would make sense, as they also have momentum from winning the NBA Championship last season.
If that is the case, I would expect that the Pistons will be rewarded the 2021 All Star game bid.
Regardless of your opinion of the All Star game and all the accompanying activities that comes with it, it will be exciting to potentially have an All Star game in Detroit.
Detroit is a city on the rise and now has all four teams playing in the city. The Pistons will have a few years to break in Little Caesars Arena and maybe even establish themselves as one of the better teams in the East before their chance to host the All Star game comes. This will be important, because most cities that host an All Star game have a player to represent the city and team at the game. That player could be Andre Drummond, or maybe it could be somebody else who isn’t even on the radar now.
This press release from the Pistons has a bit more details on the bids.
DETROIT PISTONS SUBMIT BIDS FOR NBA ALL-STAR AT LITTLE CAESARS ARENA IN DETROIT
Bids submitted for both 2020 and 2021
“Detroit is an iconic sports town with some of the most passionate basketball fans in the world,” said Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores. “There is also a spirit of renewal and an energy in Detroit right now that is unlike anywhere in the country. I want the League and all fans of the NBA to be part of this incredible turnaround story. There is nothing else like it.”
NBA All-Star brings together some of the most talented and passionate players in the league’s history for a global celebration of basketball. The NBA All-Star Game reaches fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages. In 2016, a record U.S. audience of 27 million viewers tuned in to watch NBA All-Star festivities throughout the weekend. NBA All-Star events include the NBA Rising Stars Challenge and NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, NBA All-Star Saturday Night skills competitions, the NBA All-Star Game and NBA Fan Activation events.
The NBA announced its bid process and the specifications for host cities in January.
“Given the anticipation around the sparkling new state-of-the-art Little Caesars Arena and our organization’s collective experience, expertise and organizational resources, we feel our group is uniquely qualified to host NBA All-Star weekend events,” said Arn Tellem, Vice Chairman for the Detroit Pistons. “We’re proud of the collaborative effort put forth by our team along with our partners at Olympia Entertainment and the Detroit Sports Commission and we’re excited by the future impact that NBA All-Star events could have on our community.”
Detroit has a long, successful history of hosting world-class events from the Ryder Cup to the Super Bowl, the MLB All-Star Game and the NCAA Men's Final Four. The region has the expertise and experience to showcase any event to the world and continues to experience a boon of new business, agricultural initiatives and large-scale city improvement plans. Concentrated areas of startups, independent retailers, fine food establishments, big brand name stores and entertainment options continue to surface, move forward and make headlines in Detroit, further proving the city is America’s great comeback story.
The Motor City boasts more than 36,000 hotel rooms and features a completely remodeled, state-of-the-art airport that handles 1,200 flights every day to and from 150 destinations on four continents. A rich array of cultural attractions, landmarks, outdoor activities and shopping helped Detroit be named 52 Places To Go In 2017 (New York Times, January 2017) and 6 Unexpected Cities For The Food Lover (National Geographic, January 2017).