Built and operated by Arena Associates, The Palace was headed by Pistons managing partner, William Davidson, along with the late David Hermelin and the late Robert Sosnick. An all-encompassing entertainment venue, it quickly became one of the nation’s top concert facilities. After just one season, The Palace was honored by two entertainment trade publications, being named “New Venue of the Year” by Performance and “Best New Concert Venue” by Pollstar.

THE PALACE OF AUBURN HILLS CAPACITY: Basketball – 22,076; Hockey – 20,804; Concert and Family Shows – 6,000 to 23,000 depending on configuration. NUMBER OF EVENTS: An annual average of 200. PROFESSIONAL TEAMS: Detroit Pistons (NBA) and Detroit Shock (WNBA). ACREAGE: The Palace sits on 61.1 acres (2,662,717 square feet) and was cited by conservationists for its work in preserving natural wetlands areas throughout the property during the building’s construction in 1988. OVERALL BUILDING AREA: 570,000 square feet. ATRIUM ADDITION: 100,000 square-foot addition which opened on September 13, 1996. ATRIUM HEIGHT: 117 feet. CAESARS WINDSOR CLUB ADDITION: 12,000 square feet. SUITES: 180, some as close as 16 rows from the floor. This trend started now widely copied in nearly every arena built today. The first and third level suite concourses underwent a facelift during 2002 and were then named the Traverse Bay Entertainment Suite Levels. NORTH ENTRANCE ADDITION: 60,000 square feet. COURTSIDE LOUNGES AND COURTSIDE CLUB ADDITION: 5,600 square feet. The Palace’s air conditioning system is powerful enough to cool 500 single-family homes or turn one million gallons of water into ice. There are more than 300 miles of electrical wiring throughout the Palace. The Palace has approximately 8,400 parking spaces on site. The amount of concrete used in constructing The Palace is enough to pave a two-lane highway 23 miles long.

Overall, The Palace has been nominated “Arena of the Year” 10 times by Performance magazine and won the award seven times. It has also earned 10 “Arena of the Year” nominations from Pollstar magazine and won the honor in 1992. Since its inception, The Palace has hosted almost every major touring concert act.

Now in its 19th year of operation, The Palace has undergone more than $77 million in venue renovations and improvements in an effort to uphold its reputation as one of the world’s premier entertainment arenas. Included is the building’s addition of a large atrium, which was completed in 1996. It contains three levels of offices, a storage facility and an expanded entrance with numerous amenities. This was followed by the addition of the 12,000 square-foot Caesars Windsor Club on the concourse level and the Traverse Bay Entertainment suite levels for both the 100 and 300-level suites. In 2004, a Light Emitting Diodes (LED) board was installed, allowing for the display of electronic signage around the entire arena and around the state-of-the-art hanging scoreboard during events.

The Palace is continuing its legacy as America’s most innovative arena this year by undertaking its largest enhancement project since its opening. This new phase includes the addition of an exclusive courtside lounge and club, under the arena’s east seating area, which will open in fall 2005. The Sterling Bank & Trust Club will service the five luxury suites built at The Palace over the summer of 2005 and all front row season ticket holders. The new phase also includes the expansion of the North Entrance. This project will create a new grand entrance, which will provide guests with additional concourse space, increased dining options and amenities, additional box office windows, and a new retail area to open in 2006.

The addition of the DTE Music Theatre in 1990 provided Michigan residents with one of the country’s top concert venues.

The amphitheater has been named the nation’s busiest or top-grossing outdoor venue every summer since its inception by Amusement Business. Winner of Pollstar’s “Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue” in 2000, DTE has been nominated 11 consecutive times for this award which is voted on by a reader’s poll. The award capped off the amphitheater’s most successful year in which it posted its highest-ever total attendance and was listed as the top amphitheater in Amusement Business’ year-end charts and the top-selling outdoor venue on the year-end list of Pollstar.

Throughout the years, the organization has added several branches, now totaling 21. The growth led to a name change, Palace Sports and Entertainment, Inc. (PS&E), to reflect its ever-widening scope of operations. One such addition occurred in 1994 when PS&E took over management of Meadow Brook Music Festival, which is housed on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester Hills. Both The Palace of Auburn Hills and Meadow Brook Music Festival have been named “Prime Site Award” winners by Facilities magazine in two consecutive years, 2003 and 2004. The organization also entered into a corporative agreement in 2005 to work with Hillside Productions in booking and marketing the Jerome-Duncan Ford Theatre at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

The Shock joined the PS&E family in 1998 and made an immediate impact by posting the highest winning percentage at the time by an expansion team in any professional sport during its inaugural season. They accomplished that feat by going 17-13 for a 56% winning percentage. The Shock later delivered the organization’s third championship by winning the 2003 WNBA title.

PS&E is also the parent company for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2003-04 NHL Stanley Cup Champions, which gives the organization the unique distinction of being the first to win three championships in three professional leagues in the same year.

The company continues to grow as minor league baseball team, the Asheville Tourists, a Class A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, was added to PS&E ownership during the summer of 2005.