Integrating Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center for Detroit Community
Learn how the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center uses digital signage in their sports facilities to connect with the Detroit community.
Seeking to encourage a community-oriented space as part of the City of Detroit’s revitalization efforts, the Detroit Pistons moved their training facility and headquarters to downtown Detroit. The 185,000-square-foot, four-story facility is the largest of its kind in the NBA and houses indoor and outdoor spaces for public and private events.
Challenges
To provide critical technology solutions that optimized the 185,000-square-foot-space within an aggressive timeline and strict budget constraints.
Solutions
Results
A Downtown Facility Built for Performance and Community
Learn how the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center uses digital signage in their sports facilities to connect with the Detroit community.
Seeking to encourage a community-oriented space as part of the City of Detroit’s revitalization efforts, the Detroit Pistons moved their training facility and headquarters to downtown Detroit. The 185,000-square-foot, four-story facility is the largest of its kind in the NBA and houses indoor and outdoor spaces for public and private events.
Managing Communication Across a Multi-Use Venue
To provide critical technology solutions that optimized the 185,000-square-foot-space within an aggressive timeline and strict budget constraints.
The scale and purpose of the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center introduced a unique communications challenge. As the largest training facility of its kind in the NBA, the building needed to support more than team operations alone. It also had to function as a welcoming environment for community programs, private events, and public-facing experiences tied to Detroit’s ongoing revitalization.
That meant the facility required a communication approach that could serve multiple audiences at once. Athletes, staff, partners, event attendees, and local community members all move through the space with different needs and expectations. Static messaging would not provide the speed, flexibility, or consistency needed to support a venue operating across so many use cases.
The challenge was not simply installing screens throughout the building. It was creating a digital signage environment that could guide visitors, reinforce the Pistons’ community presence, support event logistics, and adapt quickly as programming changed across indoor and outdoor spaces.
Designing a Digital Signage Strategy for Flexibility
New Era Technology served as a trusted adviser by providing value engineering and collaborating with key players to ensure state-of-the-art systems that fit within budget constraints and a limited timeline. The solutions provided by New Era Technology help build bridges between people and technology, further aligning Detroit’s mission in bringing the Detroit Community together.
- Digital Signage in sports facility for both entertainment TV and in-house content
- Audiovisual Solutions throughout the sports facility
- Control-room systems and room schedulers
- Low-voltage cabling
- Telephone conferencing
- Theatrical lighting, broadcast cameras, and speakers for the broadcasting studio
Implementing Digital Signage for Daily Operations and Events
New Era Technology worked very closely with the developer and the AV Design Consultant for this project to ensure the comprehensive plan was understood and captured. Over the course of fifteen months, New Era’s contributions helped bring-to-life the community-driven space the City of Detroit desired.
Using Digital Signage and Collaboration
Heavily-driven by revitalization efforts, the Henry Ford Detroit Performance Center project served to provide a space that serves the Detroit Community. The solutions provided by New Era Technology help build bridges between people and technology, further aligning Detroit’s mission in bringing the Detroit Community together.
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Introduction
A Downtown Facility Built for Performance and Community -
Challenge
Managing Communication Across a Multi-Use Venue -
Solution
Designing a Digital Signage Strategy for Flexibility -
Process
Implementing Digital Signage for Daily Operations and Events -
Outcome
Using Digital Signage and Collaboration
Frequently Asked Questions
Digital signage helps the facility communicate with visitors in real time through event information, wayfinding, community messaging, and branded content. This makes the space more accessible, more engaging, and better aligned with its role as both a professional sports facility and a community destination.
In a large venue that supports training operations, private functions, and public events, digital signage creates a flexible communication system that can adapt quickly to changing schedules, audiences, and space requirements. It improves navigation, supports event coordination, and ensures consistent messaging across the facility.
Let’s Build What’s Next—Together
Today’s challenges don’t sit in one category. Neither should your solutions. When infrastructure, digital transformation, and security work together, complexity fades and progress accelerates.