Cleveland Legend Who Owned Cavaliers, Indians Dies at 93

Nick J. Mileti was born in downtown Cleveland in 1931. By the 1970s, he owned three of the city’s major professional sports franchises: Major League Baseball’s Indians, the NBAThe Cavaliers and Crusaders of the World Hockey Association.

Following Mileti’s death on Tuesday at the age of 93, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer treated him to it as “the most energetic and imaginative promoter in Cleveland sports history.”

A lawyer by training, Mileti made his fortune developing a series of real estate projects in Ohio in the 1960s. In 1968, he purchased the Cleveland Arena and a minor league hockey team, the Cleveland Barons. He would later add another Cleveland minor league hockey team, the Crusaders, to his impressive portfolio.

Mileti was perhaps most famous as the first owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, ushering in the expansion franchise in the NBA in 1971. A year later, he purchased the Indians amid rumors the team would move to New Orleans, Louisiana. He purchased two local radio stations that same year.

Although his teams had little success in the standings — in a rare exception, the Cavs won a surprise division title in 1975-76 — he was instrumental in putting Cleveland on the top list. NBA by building a brand new arena for the Cavs in Richfield, Ohio, and keeping the Indians in town.

But he was replaced as president of the Indians in 1975 and sold his interest in the team. The Crusaders ceased operations in 1976 after the NHL settled in the city. Mileti sold his interest in the Cavaliers in 1980.

“We had the NBA franchise. Then the Indians left town and we kept them,” Mileti told the Toledo Blade in 1991“The (Cleveland) Arena was a two-story arena. When I started, there was no minor league basketball or hockey. We changed some of those things.”

In the 1980s, Mileti tried his hand at filmmaking. He was a producer on two Hollywood films: Streamers (1983) and The Ladies Club (1985). according to IMDB.

After leaving Hollywood, Mileti retired to Rome. He later became a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Cavaliers Wall of Honor in 2019He received a NBA championship ring from the Cavs’ first championship team in 2015-16.

An alumnus of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Mileti’s heart has never strayed far from his home state.

“A true pioneer in the sports world, Nick was not only a leader; he was a dreamer who made that dream a reality for countless Cleveland fans,” the Cavaliers said in a statement. “Nick Mileti changed the course of Cleveland sports history, and his passion and commitment will be deeply missed.”