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Company type | Private |
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Founded | United States (1926 ) |
Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Website | www |
Wirtz Corporation is an American holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1926 by Arthur Wirtz as a family-owned corporation to oversee his real estate holdings. [1] The company shortly thereafter expanded into liquor distribution. [2] The company grew significantly throughout the 20th century by purchasing many competing liquor distributors, [2] as well as the Chicago Blackhawks NHL team (becoming full owners in 1966), and the Chicago Bulls NBA team in 1972 (Wirtz Corp. sold the Bulls to Jerry Reinsdorf in 1985). [3] Wirtz Corporation is part owner of the United Center arena, [4] and also owns banking and insurance interests. [5]
After founder Arthur Wirtz's death in 1983, his son, William, took control of the corporation and ran it until his death in 2007. The company's next owner and CEO, (William's son) Rocky Wirtz died in 2023, being succeeded by his son Danny Wirtz.
The following is a partial list of subsidiaries of Wirtz Corporation [6]
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and have won six Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926. They are one of the "Original Six" NHL teams, along with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers. Since 1995, the team has played their home games at the United Center, which they share with the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls; both teams previously played at the now-demolished Chicago Stadium.
Wirtz may refer to:
Primo Water Corporation is an American-Canadian water company offering multi-gallon bottled water, water dispensers, self-service refill water machines, and water filtration appliances. The company is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and services residential and commercial customers across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel.
The Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. It was used for numerous other sporting events, opening with a championship boxing match in March 1929. The Stadium was built by Paddy Harmon, a promoter, who sank his entire fortune into the project, only to lose control to the Stadium shareholders, and leave his family nearly penniless a year later when he died. After exiting receivership in 1935, the Stadium was owned by the Norris and Wirtz families until its closure in 1994.
William Wadsworth Wirtz was the chief executive officer and controlling shareholder of the family-owned Wirtz Corporation. He was best known as the owner of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League, who are part of Wirtz Corp's holdings. Wirtz also served as the Blackhawks' team president for over four decades.
Jerry Michael Reinsdorf is an American sports executive and businessman who is the owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and MLB's Chicago White Sox. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. He has been the owner of the White Sox and Bulls for over 35 years. As of May 2024, his net worth was estimated at US$2.2 billion.
Arthur Michael Wirtz was an American entrepreneur. He was the founder of Wirtz Corporation, a holding company that owned Chicago Stadium, the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago, the Chicago Black Hawks, and the Chicago Bulls. 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.
James Dougan Norris was an American sports businessman, with interests in boxing, ice hockey, and horse racing. He was the son of James E. Norris and half-brother of Bruce Norris and Marguerite Norris. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Dick Öland Klein was an American athlete and businessman who founded the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls in 1966. He served as the team's first general manager and later worked as a scout for the Phoenix Suns.
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Sportsvision (SV) was a subscription sports television service founded by Chicago White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn and media mogul Fred Eychaner. The service broadcast live sporting events, and for much of its time of operation was the broadcast network for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks, and Chicago Sting.
NBC Sports Chicago is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports-related news, discussion and entertainment programming. It is branded as part of the NBC Sports Regional Networks.
William Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz was an American businessman. He was the principal owner and chairman of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. He was also president of the Blackhawks' parent company, the Wirtz Corporation, a diversified conglomerate headquartered in Chicago. Under Wirtz's leadership, the Chicago Blackhawks won three Stanley Cups between 2010 and 2015, reversing a period of declining fan interest and on-ice performance. He oversaw Wirtz Corporation's commercial and residential real estate companies, wine and spirits distributor Breakthru Beverage Group, an insurance company, and banks in Illinois and Florida. Wirtz was also half-owner of the Blackhawks' home arena, the United Center, along with Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. He and Reinsdorf were co-chairmen of the arena's Executive Committee.
Hawkvision was a short-lived subscription TV service founded by Wirtz Corporation and Chicago Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz. The service broadcast Chicago Blackhawks games. It operated in conjunction with Chicago's local version of SportsChannel, and access cost $29.95 per month.
Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC (DCSL) is a diversified Sri Lankan conglomerate listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of US$600 Million. It was one of the first Sri Lankan companies included in Forbes's list of non-US Best Managed companies valued under US$1 billion. The company has also been featured in the business magazine Business Today as one of its Top 10 listed companies in Sri Lanka.
WGN Sports was the programming division of WGN-TV, an independent television station located in Chicago, Illinois, United States—which is owned by the Nexstar Media Group—that was responsible for all sports broadcasts on the station, some of which were previously also broadcast on its former national superstation feed, WGN America.
George Halas McCaskey is the chairman of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He replaced his brother Michael McCaskey as chairman in 2011. He is the son of Bears owner Virginia Halas McCaskey and grandson of team founder George Halas.
Daniel Wirtz is an American businessman who is the owner and chairman of the Wirtz Corporation, a Chicago-based holding company that owns the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League, oversees real estate properties across the Chicago area, and manages one of the largest liquor distribution companies in the United States. He is the son of Rocky Wirtz, and inherited the Wirtz Corporation from his father, who died in 2023. Wirtz is the fourth generation of the family to own the Blackhawks, and the sixth principal owner in franchise history.
Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) is an upcoming regional sports network owned by Standard Media, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Chicago Bulls, and the Chicago White Sox. It is expected to launch after the teams' contract with NBC Sports Chicago expires on October 1, 2024.