CLEVELAND (AP) Nick Mileti, who helped found the Cleveland Cavaliers and became a outstanding figure in the city’s sports landscape inside the Nineteen Seventies, has died.
He become ninety three.
Mileti died in his sleep Wednesday in Rocky River, Ohio, in line with a spokesman for the Cleveland Guardians, one of numerous groups Mileti as soon as owned.
The son of Sicilian immigrants emerged as one of the town’s true powerbrokers after buying a minor league hockey team, the Cleveland Barons, and the Cleveland area in 1968.
He became a key discern in ownership companies that started out purchasing or founding different franchises.
In 1970, they brought the NBA to Cleveland through selling stocks of the enlargement-group Cavaliers at $five each to elevate $2.25 million and cover the $three.7 million expansion fee.
“a real pioneer within the global of sports activities,
Nick became now not just a leader; he turned into a dreamer who converted that dream into truth for infinite lovers in Cleveland,” the Cavaliers stated in a assertion.
“Nick Mileti changed the path of Cleveland sports activities records, and his ardour and commitment could be deeply ignored.”
Bypass
He purchased controlling interest in 1972 in the town’s essential League Baseball franchise, then named the Indians, as a part of a set that blanketed destiny U.S. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, and he helped oversee creation of the Richfield Coliseum, in which the Cavs played from 1974-ninety four.
Mileti also bought a international Hockey association franchise in 1972 and moved it from Calgary to Cleveland, renaming the franchise the Crusaders, and owned the city’s largest radio stations.
He was replaced as Indians president in 1975 and, under pressure from banks, sold his stakes in the team. The Crusaders ceased operations in 1976 after an NHL team moved into town, and Mileti sold his stake in the Cavaliers in 1980.
Eventually, though, Mileti got back into the sports business.
After moving to California in 1979 to help produce and finance plays and movies, he founded the Canadian Football League’s Las Vegas Posse, owned multiple radio stations and wrote three books.
But Mileti’s influence in Cleveland continued.
He was a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Cavaliers’ Wall of Honor in 2019 – part of the team’s 50th anniversary celebration – and was rewarded during that ceremony with an NBA championship ring from the Cavs’ first title team in 2015-16.
“I have often heard people say, ‘It’s not how long you live, but what you live for,’” former Cavs star Jim Chones said. “Nick was rewarded with longevity because he touched many in his mission to make Cleveland great again. His voice was soft but confident, demanding attention. He loved Cleveland, and Cleveland loved him.”
