DETROIT — There has been a buzz at Fade Away this week.
The No. 1 topic of conversation at the Highland Park barbershop has been the election of Barack Obama, but a close second was the Pistons’ acquisition of NBA superstar Allen Iverson.
And the shop’s owner says if you can judge anything by the comments he has heard, the people are giving a big thumbs-up to Pistons president Joe Dumars for making the move.
“The mood of the folks has been 95 to 99 percent positive, everybody loves A.I.,” Carl Pettway said Saturday. “We love Chauncey (Billups), but we do feel it was an upgrade at the position, and we do feel that Iverson’s hard work falls right in line with the residents of Detroit.”
Monday’s trade of Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb to the Nuggets for Iverson set off shock waves throughout the NBA and set off the phones at the Palace.
There has been a noticeable lack of buzz surrounding the team this year. While the two previous home games were sellouts, many seats were empty. It seems that people had grown weary of a team that had made the Eastern Conference finals six straight seasons.
“When you have no-shows, you are headed toward no sales,” said Tom Wilson, the president of Palace Sports and Entertainment. “It might not come until next year, but that’s where you’re headed.”
Iverson changed all that. Dumars says marketing was the furthest thing from his mind when he closed the deal, but even he has to be pleased with what his work has wrought from a marketing standpoint: The team averaged more than 5,000 individual ticket sales the first three days of the week. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were the largest ticket sales days of the season.
As of Thursday morning, the merchandising department took preorders for more than 1,000 Allen Iverson No. 1 jerseys.
TNT has added Thursday’s Pistons-Golden State game to its national broadcast schedule.
