The Detroit News has an article up where they discuss Paul W. Smith’s (of WJR) interview with Detroit businessman Peter Karmanos where Karmanos indicates that he is not interested in buying the Pistons…
“No,” Karmanos said, laughing. “I don’t like basketball. And I especially don’t like their Collective Bargaining Agreement. They’re going to have to do some hard work around that sport to get it back in line where it’s reasonable to own a team. … Even with some decent TV contracts, they’re just bleeding red ink as a league.”
Karmano’s is the CEO of Detroit based Compuware as well as the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL and the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL. Furthermore Karmano’s also mentions that if his business rival Mike Ilitch were to buy the Pistons and all the vested interests in Palace Sports and Entertainment it would be a mistake to move the Red Wings out of Detroit and out to the Palace.
“If the Ilitches decide to buy the Pistons, it’s real interesting because you can’t really move the Red Wings out to The Palace, you can’t really leave The Palace empty and move the Pistons down to Joe Louis, because Joe Louis is on its last legs, and building a new arena would be like $400-$500 million.
“And the city of Detroit can’t help with it, Wayne County can’t help with it and the state of Michigan can’t help with it. So someone would have to build it privately, which is an enormous task. So it’s a real interesting problem, and I don’t know what the solution is.”
The Detroit News also mentions that there are two more anonymous parties that are interested in buying the Pistons.