Billionaire businessman Mike Ilitch, who founded the Little Caesars pizza empire before buying the
Detroit Red Wings and the
Detroit Tigers
and who won praise for keeping the professional sports teams in the
city as others relocated to new suburban stadiums, has died. He was 87.
His
family released a statement saying Ilitch died Friday at a local
hospital. They called him a visionary who set the tone for his company
and his family.
"He made such a positive impact in the world of
sports, in business and in the community, and we will remember him for
his unwavering commitment to his employees, his passion for Detroit, his
generosity to others and his devotion to his family and friends," his
son Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings Inc., said
in the statement.
Family spokesman Doug Kuiper confirmed the death, but no other details were provided.
Former President George W. Bush, also the onetime owner of the
Texas Rangers, was among those who offered condolences Friday night.
"Mike
was a great citizen of our country, a self-made man with talent, drive,
and a huge heart," Bush said in a statement. "My favorite memories with
Mike are of our discussions about our shared love, baseball. Another of
Mike's passions was his beloved Detroit. He generously gave back to his
city and made it a better place. Most of all, Mike loved his family a
lot."
Tampa Bay Lightning
general manager Steve Yzerman, who won three Stanley Cups as a Red
Wings player and another as a team executive, said he was "extremely
saddened" to hear about Ilitch's death.
"Both Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch,
as well as their entire family, have had an immeasurable impact on not
only my career, but my life," Yzerman said in a statement. "Going back
to the age of 18 when I arrived in Detroit, the guidance, generosity,
concern and love Mr. Ilitch had always shown me and my family are things
I will forever be grateful for.
"Mr. Ilitch has left an
incredible legacy in baseball, hockey and Metropolitan Detroit. He will
forever be remembered for all the ways he enriched our lives. Mike
Ilitch will live on vividly in my mind and heart forever."
Tigers
manager Brad Ausmus, who worked for Ilitch as a player and manager,
said, "It was an honor to work for a man who made winning the priority.
Baseball is a business, but Mr. I was a baseball player who became a
businessman. He loved baseball, and my memories will always be centered
around the passion with which he talked about it."
Second baseman
Ian Kinsler also offered an appreciation of Ilitch.
"I
appreciated what Mr. Ilitch stood for," he told ESPN via text message.
"I'm thankful for the opportunity to play under his ownership and feel
the passion, along with the people of Detroit, that he had for his two
sports franchises."
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred called Ilitch "a model owner."
"He
was also a fierce believer in his home city of Detroit, and the role
that the Tigers and sports played in contributing to civic pride and
renewal," Manfred said in a statement. "Mr. Ilitch led a decorated life
of service to his country, accomplishment in business and philanthropy
in all of his endeavors. He was also extremely supportive of me both
personally and professionally. On behalf of all of Major League Baseball
and Mr. Ilitch's countless friends and admirers throughout the game, I
extend my deepest condolences to his wife Marian and their entire
family, the Tigers organization, their fans and his fellow citizens of
Detroit."
"Going back to the age of
18 when I arrived in Detroit, the guidance, generosity, concern and
love Mr. Ilitch had always shown me and my family are things I will
forever be grateful for."
Former Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman
Ilitch
and his wife, Marian, founded Little Caesars -- later known for its
"Pizza! Pizza!" ads featuring an animated "Little Caesar" -- in suburban
Detroit in 1959. They eventually grew the business into one of the
world's largest carryout pizza chains with several spin-off companies.
Known
simply as "Mr. I" to most people in Michigan, Ilitch was as much a fan
of the often-struggling Detroit as he was of sports. When approached in
2009 by organizers of the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, Ilitch agreed to
sponsor the annual college football bowl game despite a poor local
economy. The game was renamed the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
"It's
a sporting event, and we need sporting events," Ilitch said at the
time. "It picks our community up to no end, with all the great colleges
we have in this state and the professional teams that we have. Thank God
for 'em, especially at times that are rough right now."
The son
of Macedonian immigrants, Ilitch was born on July 20, 1929. He played
baseball at Detroit's Cooley High School and was signed by his hometown
Tigers after a four-year stint in the U.S. Marines, spending three years
in the team's farm system before a knee injury ended his playing
career.
But he found his niche in business. His family's companies had combined revenues of $2.4 billion in 2011.
It
started with that first Little Caesars restaurant in Garden City, a
working-class suburb west of Detroit. A food service distribution
company soon followed to supply ingredients and other products for the
growing number of restaurants. Blue Line Foodservice grew into one of
the largest program account food service distribution companies in the
U.S.
Ilitch Holdings Inc. was established in 1999 to manage the
family's interests in food, sports and entertainment, and the company
remained family focused. His son Christopher is president and CEO, and
Marian was vice chairwoman as well as sole owner of MotorCity Casino,
one of Detroit's three casinos.
Ilitch broke into sports ownership
in 1982, when he paid a reported $8 million for the struggling Red
Wings. Once an NHL powerhouse, the team had bottomed out to mediocrity,
but it began winning again under Ilitch. The Red Wings took home the
Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008.
Ilitch was inducted into
the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003 and into the U.S. Hockey Hall of
Fame and Michigan Sports Hall of Fame a year later.
"Mr. and Mrs.
Ilitch are incredibly passionate about Detroit and their teams," Red
Wings general manager Ken Holland told The Associated Press in a 2010
interview. "They create a family atmosphere with stability, loyalty and a
personal touch. But we all understand we have to produce to be around
for a long time."
The
Detroit Lions highlighted Ilitch's importance to the city in a statement Friday night mourning his death.
"Mr.
Ilitch's many positive contributions to our city and region will be
everlasting and will greatly impact future generations of our community.
His leadership of the Red Wings and Tigers truly set a standard of
excellence," Lions president Rod Wood said.
"It
was an honor to work for a man who made winning the priority. Baseball
is a business, but Mr. I was a baseball player who became a
businessman."
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus
As
part of his long-term plan to build a Detroit-based business empire,
Ilitch also bought Olympia Entertainment, which manages several
restaurants, sports and entertainment venues, in 1982.
Husband and
wife bought the downtown Fox Theatre five years later and started a
massive, $12 million restoration. It reopened a year later and became a
lucrative venue for musicals, plays and other productions. The Little
Caesars world headquarters also was moved downtown.
Then, in 1992,
the man who once dreamed of playing for the Tigers bought the team for
$85 million. He moved it in 2000 from the storied but fading Tiger
Stadium to Comerica Park, across from the Fox Theatre.
Unlike
previous owners of both sports franchises, Ilitch opened his checkbook
to sign top players -- finding solid success in hockey and a roller
coaster in baseball.
The Tigers lost an American League-record 119
games in 2003 but advanced to the World Series three years later,
losing in five games to the
St. Louis Cardinals.
Near the end of a disappointing 2008 season, Ilitch said he and the
team would review everything done to put the roster together but added
that focusing on the $138 million payroll wasn't the priority.
"I'm not afraid to go out and spend money," he said. "It's been very costly, but I'm not going to change my ways."
The Tigers made the AL playoffs in 2011, a return to winning that brought more fans to Comerica Park.
Former
Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who currently serves as an assistant to
Tigers general manager Al Avila, said it was crushing that the team
never won a World Series for Ilitch.
"I can remember how bad we wanted it," Leyland said,
according to the Detroit Free Press.
"That's the one thing we were always brokenhearted about -- that we
didn't get a World Series for him because he's the guy that we wanted it
for. We just fell a little bit short."
Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said Ilitch was simply driven to win.
"He
has a good feel for sports, baseball in particular, and that's always
good when you're working for someone like that," Dombrowski said in
2010, shortly after Ilitch announced he would try to buy the
Detroit Pistons; Ilitch had jumped in amid speculation another buyer might move the pro basketball team.
"When
I read in the paper there was the chance that this great sports town
could lose one of its professional sports franchises, I just didn't see
how we could let that happen," Ilitch told The Associated Press in 2010.
"The Pistons, just like the Red Wings, Tigers and the Lions, have a
rich and storied tradition in this community."
"He
was also a fierce believer in his home city of Detroit, and the role
that the Tigers and sports played in contributing to civic pride and
renewal."
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred
California
billionaire and Michigan State graduate Tom Gores eventually bought the
Pistons and kept the team at its arena in Auburn Hills, north of
Detroit.
The Pistons and Red Wings will move into a new arena
slated to open later this year -- named Little Caesars Arena -- located
mere blocks away from Comerica Park and the Lions' Ford Field.
Ilitch's
admiration of Detroit also was put on display in 2009, when General
Motors -- struggling under the threat of bankruptcy -- discontinued its
sponsorship of the popular General Motors Fountain at Comerica Park.
Instead of selling the space to other bidders, Ilitch gave the
advertising spot to each of the area's car companies that season at no
cost.
"He cares about the city of Detroit. This is something he
wanted to do. It's for the Big Three," Ron Colangelo, the Tigers'
spokesman, said at the time.
-Katie Strang, ESPN.com
