The Detroit Pistons will be sold to Detroit sports icon Mike Ilitch in a deal that should be completed within the next 30 days, according to "Crain's Detroit Business".The Ilitch family already owns the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers and is said to be very interested in building a new downtown arena that would serve as home both to the Red Wings and Pistons. The Ilitch family announced plans to buy the Pistons earlier this summer. Ilitch co-founded the pizza chain Little Caesars Enterprises Inc., with his wife Marian in 1959.
If the deal goes through, it will be only the second time the franchise has been sold. Bill Davidson bought the Pistons for $8 million in 1974 from team founder Fred Zollner, who moved the franchise to Detroit in 1957 from Fort Wayne, Ind., where it was founded. When Bill Davidson passed away in March 2009, his wife, Karen Davidson (pictured right), inherited the team.
The last NBA franchise to change hands was the Golden State Warriors, when Chris Cohan sold to an ownership group including Joe Lacob and Peter Guber for a record $450 million in July. The final price was far above Forbes' $315 million estimated value of the Warriors. That may bode well for Davidson's bottom line, but any potential owner of the Pistons must also take into consideration metro Detroit's depressed economy.
The Pistons' current minority owners, who account for a 24 percent stake, have agreed to sell their shares when Davidson reaches a deal.
Karen Davidson reportedly said that she was confident a deal would be done before the season started, according to mlive.com. "It's progressing very well," she said during a Sept 23 promotional event in Auburn Hills.
The only other major candidate considered to buy the team was Tom Gores, a California private equity billionaire who is a graduate of Michigan State University.
-- FanHouse editor Matt Watson contributed to this report.
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