It's not October 2010, but it still feels good. The Detroit Pistons have finally been sold. After being approved by David Stern and the NBA board of governors yesterday, Tom Gores officially closed on the deal to purchase the team and take over as head honcho at The Palace of Auburn Hills for the foreseeable future [via Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press]:
Detroit, meet the new owner of the Pistons. Tom Gores is now the fourth owner of the franchise that has won three NBA championships after closing a deal to purchase the team this afternoon. [ ... ]
[ ... ] Terms of the deal weren’t announced. But a person familiar with it said the agreement places a so-called enterprise value of more than $400 million on the team, the Palace of Auburn Hills and DTE Energy Music Theatre. But Gores may pay closer to the $275 million-$300 million range for the assets after backing out minority ownership interests, debt and other liabilities.
The Pistons will hold a press conference tomorrow at the Palace to introduce the new owner.