Michael Illitch Wants to Own All Detroit Sports Teams

The dude’s family already owns the Tigers and Red Wings, so he figures, why not throw the Pistons into the mix? The Free Press reports: “Sports and pizza boss Michael Ilitch said today he wants to buy the Detroit Pistons and move the team to a new arena in downtown Detroit. The Ilitch family already owns the Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Red Wings. The Ilitch bid is for the entire Palace Sports & Entertainment organization, not just for the basketball team itself. If successful, that means that the Ilitches would also own the Palace of Auburn Hills arena, the DTE Energy Music Theatre and other aspects of the Palace network. In a statement issued this morning, Ilitch said he and his family are committed to building a new arena in downtown even if their bid for the Pistons fails. The new arena would serve as a home for the Red Wings, which continue to play their games at the aging Joe Louis Arena. ‘No one should get too excited just yet, because this is the first step in what could be a long process,’ the Ilitch statement read. ‘There is a lot of due diligence to take place, and who even knows if the Pistons would accept any potential future offer. But I can tell you that we are serious about this, we’ll be aggressive in the process, and we’re going to take a real hard run at it because it makes sense for our organization.'”