Arthur Michael Wirtz (January 23, 1901 – July 21, 1983) was an American entrepreneur. He was the founder of Wirtz Corporation, a holding company that owned

Chicago Stadium Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago from 1929 to 1995. When it was built, it was the largest indoor arena in the world with a maximum seating capacity of 26,000. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and ...

, the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago, the

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

. He was the father of the late Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz, as well as the grandfather of the late Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, who died on July 25, 2023.

Early life and education

Wirtz was born on January 23, 1901, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, the son of Leona and Fredrick Wirtz.Chicago Tribune: "Arthur Wirtz, Multimillionaire Sports, Real Estate Magnate"
July 22, 1983 His father was a police officer. In 1922, he graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Career

After school, he worked as a commercial leasing broker with fellow graduate Arthur Rubloff. In 1929, he partnered with grain trader and real estate investor, James E. Norris, who was impressed with how Wirtz handled one of his real estate transactions. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the Wirtz-Norris partnership began to purchase arenas at much reduced prices. In 1933, they purchased the

Olympia Stadium Detroit Olympia, also known as Olympia Stadium, was a multi-purpose arena in Detroit. Nicknamed "The Old Red Barn", it was best known as the home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) from its opening in 1927 to 1979. Hist ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and its hockey franchise, the Detroit Falcons, which they renamed the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

for $100,000. In 1935, they purchased the Chicago Stadium. Wirtz was able to fill his stadiums after securing and booking the Hollywood Ice Revue produced by and starring Olympic ice skating champion

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

. He used the proceeds to pay off the mortgage on the Chicago Stadium and also purchase

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and the St. Louis Arena. In 1946, he and

James D. Norris James Dougan Norris (November 6, 1906 – February 25, 1966) was an American sports businessman, with interests in boxing, ice hockey, and horse racing. He was the son of James E. Norris (whom the James Norris Memorial Trophy is named after) ...

helped Bill Tobin purchase the nearly bankrupt Chicago Blackhawks. Wirtz continued to help run the Red Wings. In summer of 1951, Arthur Wirtz left Detroit to join the (Chicago) board of directors. In 1949, he and Jim Norris (the son of James) founded the International Boxing Club which presided over 47 of 51 championships through 1955. As Wirtz and Norris had control over most of the major sporting venues east of the Mississippi, federal authorities ended their boxing monopoly in 1958 and forced them to sell Madison Square Garden. In 1972, he partnered with

Lester Crown Lester Crown (born June 7, 1925) is an American businessman and is the son of Chicago financier Henry Crown (died 1990), who created the Material Service Corporation with two brothers in 1919, which merged with General Dynamics in 1959. Crown ...

from team founder Dick Klein and purchased a controlling stake in the Chicago Bulls In 1974, he lost a lawsuit brought by Milwaukee real estate magnate Marvin Fishman accusing him of illegally preventing Fishman's purchase of the Bulls. Wirtz was an important showbiz figure with his presentation of the

Ice Show, which toured arenas for many years. He was also involved with the Henie-produced ice shows which played the Center Theatre at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

in New York for several seasons. Wirtz took over the ownership of Ice Follies and Holiday on Ice, which he later sold to Irvin and Kenneth Feld.

Honors

He succeeded Bill Tobin as President of the Chicago Black Hawks in 1954 and quickly turned the franchise around, winning the Stanley Cup in 1961. He was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

in 1971.

Personal life and death

In 1926, he married Virginia Wirtz; they had four children: William Wirtz; Michael Wirtz; Cynthia Wirtz MacArthur; and Elizabeth Wirtz. Arthur Wirtz died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on July 21, 1983, at age 82 in his Chicago home. Services were held at the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago.

Awards and achievements

* 1936, 1937, 1943, 1950,

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

Championship (

) *

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

Championship (Chicago) *

, inducted 1971 * Chicagoan of the Year, 1977 *

Lester Patrick Trophy The Lester Patrick Trophy has been presented by the National Hockey League and USA Hockey since 1966 to honor a recipient's contribution to ice hockey in the United States. It is considered a non-NHL trophy because it may be awarded to players, ...

, 1985

References

External links

* *
Picture of Arthur M. Wirtz's Name on the 1950 Stanley Cup Plaque

Picture of Arthur M. Wirtz's Name on the 1961 Stanley Cup Plaque
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wirtz, Arthur 1901 births 1983 deaths Chicago Blackhawks executives Chicago Bulls executives Chicago Bulls owners Detroit Red Wings owners Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Lester Patrick Trophy recipients National Hockey League owners Businesspeople from Chicago Stanley Cup champions American Presbyterians University of Michigan alumni American businesspeople in real estate