Rumors rumbling that Tom Gores might buy the Tigers
January 19th, 2017 at 9:19 AM ^
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January 19th, 2017 at 9:20 AM ^
January 19th, 2017 at 9:20 AM ^
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January 19th, 2017 at 9:21 AM ^
January 19th, 2017 at 10:00 AM ^
He could go all the way!
January 19th, 2017 at 9:22 AM ^
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January 19th, 2017 at 10:14 AM ^
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January 19th, 2017 at 9:22 AM ^
January 19th, 2017 at 9:22 AM ^
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January 19th, 2017 at 9:46 AM ^
January 19th, 2017 at 9:54 AM ^
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January 19th, 2017 at 10:03 AM ^
January 19th, 2017 at 1:06 PM ^
The estate tax is beside the point when it comes to Tigers' ownership or any sale of the franchise.
Mike Illitch does not own the Tigers in his individual capacity. The franchise is owned and operated by the Detroit Tigers, Inc., which is a Michigan corporation with 10,000 shares. In addition, I believe there is an entity known as "Illitch Holdings" which may own the shares in the Tigers (not to mention the Red Wings, the Fox Theatre, etc.). Mike Illitch and his family members control these entities and receive their profits as income, but his death will not affect their ownership structure or trigger an estate tax liability arising from the baseball franchise any of the other Illitch businesses.
If the Illitch family/entities decide to sell the Tigers, it won't be for estate tax reasons. People as wealthy and successful as the Illitches plan ahead to avoid such situations.
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_corp/dt_corp.asp?id_nbr=475186&name_ent….
January 19th, 2017 at 1:57 PM ^
January 19th, 2017 at 2:09 PM ^
The Tigers are outside of Illitch Holdings and are owned by Mike personally because of Marian's ownership interest in Motor City Casino. This structure also means that, for some time at least, the Tigers corporate structure all reported to Mike directly instead of his son Chris in his capacity as head of the family's business interests.
January 19th, 2017 at 10:23 AM ^
Nothing like firing one of the two best GMs in baseball to bring in ... some guy.
January 19th, 2017 at 3:04 PM ^
January 19th, 2017 at 9:23 AM ^
They need to build a farm system. Will they play in the new arena also?
January 19th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^
That would be like playing wiffle ball in your basement. In other words, AWESOME!
January 19th, 2017 at 9:27 AM ^
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January 19th, 2017 at 9:31 AM ^
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January 19th, 2017 at 3:51 PM ^
No, because you can't fit a baseball diamond in a Hockey/Basketball arena.
Yes because sports owners don't give a crap about that stadium you just built for them, they already want a new one. See: Atlanta.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^
I don't think deep pockets is what kept them from contention. The Tigers are usually in the top 5 in terms of payroll.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:27 AM ^
Rank | Team | Opening Day | Avg Salary | Median |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dodgers | $ 223,352,402 | $ 7,445,080 | $ 5,166,666 |
2 | Yankees | $ 213,472,857 | $ 7,361,133 | $ 3,300,000 |
3 | Red Sox | $ 182,161,414 | $ 6,072,047 | $ 3,500,000 |
4 | Tigers | $ 172,282,250 | $ 6,891,290 | $ 3,000,000 |
5 | Giants | $ 166,495,942 | $ 5,946,284 | $ 4,000,000 |
January 19th, 2017 at 9:31 AM ^
What a luxury, When Mike Illitch is gone we're going to miss that for sure. He didn't or hasn't gotten his championship but not for lack of trying on his part, you just don't find owners like this everywhere.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:27 AM ^
owner than Illitch, a baseball guy who actually played n the minor leagues.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:31 AM ^
Adding on, he is more than willing to spend to win. We have been insanely spoiled by him.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:35 AM ^
Nice guy, they've known him a long time I guess but man, didn't fire me up, I was just thinking, okay, here's the draw down where Tigers go into 30 years of mediocrity. At least Chris Ilitch is a hockey guy so we know he will spend the money on the wings.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:53 AM ^
I'm not terribly familiar with the workings of the NHL salary cap, but how much can an owner actually go out of pocket to spend on players?
I assume that the willing owner could pay for ancillary benefits (better locker room amenities and the like -- similar to the arms race in college football and basketball), but what can be done to overcome the salary cap?
January 19th, 2017 at 10:14 AM ^
but having a savvy general manager that can make good trades and solid free agent signings is key in the cap era. Ken Holland has proven that he can't compete if he can't outspend.
When was the last time the Wings made a significant trade or home run free agent signing that put them in Cup contention? All organization's are now scouring Europe and Russia, a trend the Wings were at the forefront of, so Holland no longer has that advantage either.
The Wings need new blood in the front office. Unfortunately, Steve Yzerman is locked up in Tampa Bay. They need to find someone that can bring in the talent necessary to win a Cup via FA signings and trades because this Wings team is not built for any type of Cup run now or in the foreseeable furture.
January 19th, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^
Totally agree with you on Holland and the poor performance of the GM function for the Wings.
I was specifically refering to any ability of the owner to spend-to-win. It seems that the strike around the collective bargaining agreement was specifically designed to eliminate that practice -- probably specifically targeting the Wings and Avs at the time.
One way an owner could spend to win is paying whatever break-up fee Yzerman has in his contract with Tampa Bay.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:27 AM ^
Nothing but speculation at this point.
Illitch loves the Tigers and I think he holds onto that team until he passes. He wants nothing more than winning a title with these guys.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
January 19th, 2017 at 9:46 AM ^
Uhhhh......have you seen the guy lately?
January 19th, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^
With what he wants out of life?
It's been noted many times over that winning a WS is basically the only thing left he wants on his life. I expect him to fight for that until he can't anymore.
It is entirely possible to be old and getting near the end and still have passion for stuff. Not sure what that comment has to do with anything.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:48 AM ^
I agree. The Tigers have always been Mr. I's baby, maybe not so much Chris and the rest of the family. I don't see them doing anything until after he passes as you mentioned though.
With that being said, I'm all for whatever keep the Tigers from the 90's and early 2000 versions we were forced to watch.
"I love Dean Palmer ... if you can trade him tomorrow give me a call"
January 19th, 2017 at 10:00 AM ^
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January 19th, 2017 at 10:32 AM ^
Probably some truth to that; I meant more to the fact that if it wasn't for Mike the Illitch's would have sold the Tigers by now.
January 19th, 2017 at 10:35 AM ^
I'm working off of memory, but I think Ilitch always put a high premium on the Tigers franchise. He inherited an absolutely wretched roster from Tom Monaghan. Monaghan was an comically bad owner, who was also highly distractable, and constantly looking for public adulation. I don't recall Monaghan doing anything charitable that did not have a Brandon-esque clumsy self-promotion element to it.
Ilitch, on the other hand, was relatively low key in both his franchise ownership and his charitable works. Very devoted to Detroit in general, and loved baseball in general. I think Detroit's been blessed to have him on many, many levels.
I think it really took Ilitch a few years to dig out of the Monaghan mess. Detroit does not sell itself like some markets (NY, Chicago, LA, etc.), and it was not easy until Pudge (and then Magglio) to show that he was really dedicated to rebuilding the franchise.
Again, this is without researching it - just my recollection.
January 19th, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^
The first decade of Ilitch's ownership of the Tigers was bleak. The Tigers were one of the worst franchises in baseball for most of that time. For awhile they didn't spend much money, with the justification being that they needed a new stadium. After the stadium was constructed, they still didn't spend that much in the first few years, claiming that they needed to pay down their share of the construction costs.
However, after that humiliating 2003 season (43-119), when the Tigers were basically a glorified AAA team, Ilitch finally opened up the checkbook and began to spend what it took to make the franchise competitive. Since that time he's been a model owner.
January 19th, 2017 at 11:12 AM ^
The Tigers have always been his baby, the Wings have just had a lot more success. He played in the Tigers farm system when he was younger and has been/was more hands on with the Tigers throughout the years.
January 19th, 2017 at 7:28 PM ^
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January 19th, 2017 at 8:04 PM ^
January 19th, 2017 at 9:29 AM ^
Illitch is worth more than Gores (not that that says anything about their priorities with regards to baseball salary spending, which either can easily afford if they want).
January 19th, 2017 at 10:25 AM ^
it may be why the Tigers stopped moving to cut payroll. That's rarely. if ever, the direction new ownership wants to go.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:36 AM ^
He's a pretty cool guy for a Sparty.
January 19th, 2017 at 9:52 AM ^
bought a company I used to work for. Within two years he had stripped the company bare, Gordon Gekko style, and thousands of good, hard working people were left unemployed in his wake.
Fuck Tom Gores, I hope he never gets his slimy hands on the Tigers.