The son of Sicilian immigrants, Nick James Mileti (born April 22, 1931 in Cleveland, OH, died 8/21/24 in Rocky River, Ohio) was an American author, retired lawyer, former businessman, sports entrepreneur and former sports franchise owner who was, during the 1970s, the owner of the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Crusaders, the Cleveland Arena, the Coliseum at Richfield and radio station "3WE" WWWE AM/1100 (now WTAM).

Born in southeast Cleveland, Nick put himself through college, graduating from Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in 1953. The BGSU Alumni Center is now named in his honor. Following his time at BGSU, he earned a J.D. degree from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1956.

After military service he opened a law practice in Lakewood, Ohio and became prosecutor there after befriending the mayor. He became involved in sports after serving as chairman of the Bowling Green alumni association and organizing a BGSU game at the Cleveland Arena. Shortly thereafter he purchased the Arena and its prime tenant, the original Cleveland Barons hockey team. Recognizing that the Arena needed another tenant, he sought an expansion NBA team for Cleveland.

Mileti spearheaded a group that purchased the ownership rights to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1970 to enter the league as an expansion team, paying a fee of $3.7 million; he eventually sold his twenty percent interest in the team in 1980 for $1.4 million. Another syndicate he headed purchased the Indians in 1972 for $10 million from Vernon Stouffer.

Soon after winning the Cavaliers franchise, Mileti realized that Cleveland Arena was nearing the end of its useful life. However, when politicians balked at building a new arena downtown, he bought land in Richfield, halfway between Cleveland and Akron, and built the Richfield Coliseum, at the time the largest arena in the country. he pulled off his climactic sports surprise by building the opulent 22,000-seat Coliseum midway between Cleveland and Akron on a site in Richfield literally surrounded by cornfields. He opened the building with a gala Frank Sinatra concert in 1974.

Mileti also founded and was the principal owner of the short-lived CFL team, the Las Vegas Posse in 1994. In 2019, He was inducted into the Cavaliers "Wall of Honor", which recognizes prominent figures in team history. He was inducted into the Cavaliers Wall of Honor in 2019.

Mileti became a writer in retirement; publishing three books including: "Closet Italians: A Dazzling Collection of Illustrious Italians with Non-Italian Names" (2004); "Beyond Michelangelo: The Deadly Rivalry between Borromini and Bernini" (2005); "The Unscrupulous: Scams, Cons, Fakes & Frauds that Poison the Fine Arts", (2009) Bordighera Press.

Watch the tribute to Nick from the Cleveland Cavaliers organization here.

(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)