In Detroit we always took pride in the fact that our team was of Championship caliber with no quote “Superstar.” You would be surprised (or not) to know that the recent acquisition of Allen Iverson has things moving and shaking in the Pistons organization.
This is a media release by the Organization today:
SINCE BLOCKBUSTER ALLEN IVERSON TRADE PISTONS’ NUMBERS SHOW SHARP INCREASE
The following numbers show how much impact Allen Iverson’s trade to Detroit has increased Pistons’ business in the first three days since Monday’s blockbuster deal:
- The team has averaged over 5,000 individual ticket sales in each of the 3 days since the trade. Since Monday, the Pistons’ have sold an additional 100 full season tickets. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have been the three largest ticket sales days of the season for the Pistons.
- On the Detroit Pistons’ website, Pistons.com, the team was averaging 84,101 page views per day during the week leading up to the trade. In the three days since the trade, the following page view numbers were reported from Pistons.com. Monday-493,239, Tuesday-560,228, Wednesday-414,400. That’s an average of 489,289 per day, up over 400,000 per day during the last 3 days.
- The Pistons’ merchandising department already has pre-orders for more than 1,000 Allen Iverson No. 1 Pistons’ jerseys. The Palace Lockerroom Stores expects delivery of those jerseys on Friday. Allen Iverson jerseys are expected to be in all Palace Lockerroom Stores sometime Friday.
- Nationally, TNT has already added next week’s Pistons-Golden State game to its national broadcast schedule. Iverson’s first game on FSN-Detroit Friday night from New Jersey is expected to show a large viewership increase. Pistons’ ratings on FSN-Detroit are up 18 percent over last year at this time.
All of this comes as no surprise to me. I knew the Bandwagoners would jump on quick. I knew the merchandising department would be in a frenzy stocking jerseys – hell, 70% of the Pistons fans I know were salivating just thinking of going to The Palace Locker Room store. The national media never did like to take notice of Detroit, or didn’t want to for that matter.
A day in the life sure changes things, doesn’t it?
November 6, 2008 at 5:54 pm
It pisses me off that he took Chauncey’s number. How inconsiderate. Who cares if 3 was unavailable, pick 2 or something.
November 6, 2008 at 6:19 pm
This is a little disappointing. Frontrunning on the Pistons team? Something Id hope I would never see. I watched 82 games per year with Chauncey, and will with AI, or whoever is on the team.
November 6, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Not really bothered by the number thing. I appreciate what Billups did for us and everything, however I just feel numbers are expendable for players who were not drafted by your ball club. I didnt hear a big fuss when Stuck took #3. Even tho Chauncey did find a home here, its hard for a journeymen ball player to have a sacred number. It seems like a big deal now, but who knows, 10 years down the road Chaunceys number 1 might be in the rafters.
Interesting numbers Nat. Figures something like this goes down AFTER my run as a ticket holder.
November 6, 2008 at 6:27 pm
You don’t know how AI got #1, Joe D. might have given it to him for all we know. Chauncey could have requested it, for all we know.
November 6, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Deep down i feel like we’re the same team, even with AI. I’m hoping that AI, though a superstar, falls into the Pistons mold, instead of the team completely changing to accommodate AI. At the same time, we should play to his strengths, as not to waste what we have. He plays hard and has the talent so let’s make something good happen Detroit. I’m excited to see what he brings to the table. The coming of AI will test how selfless the members on this team really are…and we’ll see if AI can take a role where he isn’t the focal point of the offense.
I want the naysayers to eat their words. And the number thing isn’t a big deal for me. It’s the heart and soul behind that number that counts.
-Excited in Los Angeles, Michael
November 6, 2008 at 6:49 pm
did anyone catch the press conference w chauncey?
November 6, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I guess we get a taste of our own medicine this year after railing Boston bandwagoners. But our community here at need4sheed has been here since the ‘Sheed days, so no worries, haha.
November 6, 2008 at 7:23 pm
i totally agree with the bandwagon comments. theres a couple kids at my school who now say they are piston fans cause of AI and cant name other players and if they can name them they say they suck and AI is the best. It is pissing me off so much.
November 6, 2008 at 7:29 pm
does anyone know if any of the games on FSN PLus are being changed to national tv? cause I don’t have that channel.
November 6, 2008 at 7:30 pm
where was the press conference broadcast? I’d like to see it
November 6, 2008 at 7:39 pm
i saw the press conference here
http://cbs4denver.com/sports
November 6, 2008 at 7:51 pm
hahaha is it just me or was the 1st 1:12 of that presser about as awkward as you can get? I never did like George Karl anyway.
November 6, 2008 at 7:55 pm
http://truebluepistons.blogspot.com/2008/11/iverson-effect-net-gains-all-around.html
November 6, 2008 at 8:11 pm
thanks for the link
man that was cool, he’s wearing John Elway’s number. I like how he defended Dyess then said he’d leave the decision up to Dyess. Man classy as they come. He’ll really help Denver, Did George Karl take a stab at AI’s decision making?
Yeah Junior at first I was thinking this is weird but maybe every team is different, but even Chauncey seemed a little confused at how it was going at first, but he seems happy being there and I’m glad for him. But I don’t feel as good for Dyess who is being put in this situation, and I want Dyess to win his ring, if it’s here great, but if he has to go somewhere else to get it I’ll still cheer for him, but he ain’t no ring chaser
November 6, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I’m not sure how to feel about the numbers, but that just goes to show you how a person can change the WHOLE DIMENSION of a franchise.
At first, I was kinda upset that Iverson got Billups number, but I got over it. Now… the numbers thing; Not to repeat myself, but that goes to show you what one person can do to a team.
November 6, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Hey anyone know where I could catch Dyess’s press conference when he first came to the Pistons?
also found this on the internet, some german artist made this dyess painting/drawing I guess it’s interpretive or something. Can’t tell if I like it or just think it’s weird. Judge for yourself
http://cipha.de/2006/09/29/james-jean
November 6, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Watching Chaunceys PC, he looks quite happy to be in Denver, so best of luck out there.
November 6, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I kinda disagree about people being bandwagoners Nat. Cmon, I’ve been coming here awhile and Pistons.com since 2004, and even I ramped up my viewing of pages and what not when I heard about the trade. The guy has fans, and the Pistons have fans not just in Detroit. People were just curious.
And u can’t fault Detroit folks who didn’t want to go to an early season game w/ the same group that they’ve been seeing for 4 years now. Now they are interested in more than just May and June.
November 6, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Trust me. I don’t consider anyone that comes her as a bandwagoner but I’m telling you I have seen my share jump right on this Monday.
It’s great more people are interested but it sometimes takes away from DIEHARDS like all of you. That’s the point I was trying to make.
Me, I’m delighted about the trade even though I loved CB and Dyess.
November 6, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Just as a comment, people who became fans in 2004 are…uhhh….definitely bandwagoners.
November 6, 2008 at 11:55 pm
people who became fans in 2004 could have been bandwagoners but you can grow out of that. i mean you need to start being a fan sometime right?
November 7, 2008 at 12:39 am
not everybody lives in Detroit or Michigan for that matter. Hmm..when would a 9th grade girl in Alabama see a Pistons game in 2004?? Oh, when they nationally televise them in the playoffs. And I started liking them against the Heat…not after they won it all. There was no league pass, and I’m pretty sure they didn’t have tons of ABC games at that time during the season.
I would be a bandwagoner if i stopped watching them after they stopped winning. And once again, don’t even live in Detroit, Alabama has no NBA team, and if I was gonna jump on a bandwagon…I would’ve been rooting for the Lakers at that time. Seriously. It’s entertainment, not the property of life-long fans.
November 7, 2008 at 12:54 am
And apologies if that sounded heated…because I dislike people with tons of opportunities to see 3 or 4 sports teams all their lives, whine about fans who only discover a team after they have success. If I picked any team to like I’d be a bandwagoner just because we don’t get to see many here.
It’s like New Yorkers complaining about tourists. some people don’t have 100 story buildings outside their windows!!!
November 7, 2008 at 1:03 am
thats like me in Hawaii. I could have been a fan of the Lakers but i wasnt and i am NOT a bandwagoner.
There was an interview of ESPN with Steven A. Smith talking with AI and he was saying that he feels really good about Detroit and will take any one on in the game.
November 7, 2008 at 1:48 am
i became a fan when my babysitter made me watch them when i was about 5 during those championship years from 88-90. was i a 5 year-old bangwagon-er? haha
living in los angeles i grew up to hate the lakers because the pistons were introduced to me first.
November 7, 2008 at 3:55 am
I completely sympathize with your, Bianca. That’s not Nat’s point though. Her point is simply that a lot of people are paying the Pistons attention NOW due to A.I. which rubs some diehard fans the wrong way. However, everyone has to start beign a fan at some point, whether you’re born into it or you discover a team or a sport you enjoy later in life. It’s not a religion or a gang- it’s entertainment, and in regard to team need4sheed, it’s kind of a family.
November 7, 2008 at 4:12 am
OK! So I’m a made Pistons fan in Cali…and I called up Dish Network asap to get the NBA league Pass. NO DICE! They are still working out kinks in ‘contracts’! Anyone else finding this tough to deal with outside the Detroit FSN realm?! WHEN CAN I GET IT!?!
I have no other option…
~Aron
November 7, 2008 at 4:15 am
The Pistons, since 2004, haven’t stopped winning, really. There’s nothing wrong with starting off as a bandwagon fan. We all have to become fans sometimes. There’s no more honor in being a homer fan then there is in being a bandwagon fan. Nothing wrong with rooting for a winning team. Nothing wrong with rooting for your hometown team. Really, the only thing I don’t like is people who start rooting for their hometown team after they start winning and stop when they stop. Pistons fans from 2004, as is my original point, haven’t been tested yet. We’ve made the ECF every year since that. Hardly enough to shake one’s faith in a team. Now Lions fans, they’ve got something to be proud of.
November 7, 2008 at 8:42 am
I became a fan when I moved to Detroit from Germany. I went to a game in 2002 and said, wow, I really like this. I didn’t know any names, but as I watched the other teams play, I kept on liking more and more the Pistons. In 2003 I started to fall in love with them. I watched every game, when I couldn’t, I was pissed at everyone who was next to me.
Bandwagon fans will come and go: but most of the people here on the forum are real fans. Real fans will root for Chauncey in Denver.
I always say: just go with it, forget all the fans jumping on our bandwagon right now, maybe they’re finally opening their eyes and seeing what kind of team, and even more important what kind of organization this is.
Best of luck to you all. Stay Safe
November 7, 2008 at 10:18 am
The question here is not necessarily whether or not some fans are bandwagoners… but what’s going to happen once the dust settles.
I’ll admit it: I WAS a bandwagoner once when I was much, much younger, around 13 or 14. I came of age around the surge of the Bad Boys and fell for the Pistons… but that sometimes happens abroad. I know that some folks younger than me are “lifetime” Bulls fans, and by lifetime I mean till MJ retired. However, like some of the other fans in this forum, I stuck around and that’s what matters in the end.
Maybe some of these people are coming attracted because of A.I. And you never know, once they learn about the Detroit brand of basketball, they’ll probably stick around. You can be born a Die-Hard fan or you can become a Die-Hard fan… in the end, as long as we don’t turn our backs on the team when heartbreak comes, it’s all good.
November 7, 2008 at 10:56 am
I always thought giving the same number away to new player will increase the merchandise sell. It’s just a number, I don’t even know what number Rip wears and I’m a huge basketball fan.
Also at the night the news broke, during the broadcast, I was surprised how quickly they came up with the ‘Five rson’ plan. Almost make you wonder if the marketing folks knew about this way more advanced than the media.
November 7, 2008 at 11:39 am
I think there are fans who aren’t fans of the Pistons, many who might not even be fans of AI but they hear Allen Iverson is an allstar, he’s a former league MVP and just think allstar means wins, but we know that’s not always the case.
I consider myself diehard pistons fan, but I can understand people who see sports as a form of entertainment rather than a hobby or an interest. People watch sports because they like to see competition, and I think the Pistons lost some people when fans saw their lack of competition in the ECFs the last couple years. San Antonio is not a flashy team, but they compete to win and that’s why their fans watch that team even though they’re not high flyers or anything. Me personally I’ll take hustle over high flying high scorers anyday