Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz, one of the most successful owners in Chicago sports history, died unexpectedly Tuesday after a brief illness. He was 70.
The third man in the dynastic family to lead the Hawks’ franchise, Wirtz made a dynasty out of the franchise itself, transforming the hockey team’s popularity and brand and ushering in an era of on-ice domination.
Although the Hawks’ sexual assault scandal and Wirtz’s outburst in a 2022 town hall meeting discussing it complicated his legacy, he remained a larger-than-life figure and will be remembered as one of the most influential people in the city’s hockey history.
He was surrounded Tuesday by his wife, Marilyn, and his four children — Danny, Hillary, Kendall and Elizabeth — when he died at NorthShore Evanston Hospital.
“Our hearts are very heavy today,” Hawks CEO Danny Wirtz said in a statement. “Our dad was a passionate businessman committed to making Chicago a great place to live, work and visit, but his true love was for his family and close friends.
“He was a loving father, a devoted husband to Marilyn, a brother, a nephew, an uncle and a doting grandfather to his six remarkable grandchildren. His passing leaves a huge hole in the hearts of many, and we will miss him terribly.”
Rocky Wirtz, a 1975 Northwestern University graduate, was also a titan of Chicago business. Since 1980, he had led the family’s liquor distribution company, which has been known as Breakthru Beverage Group since a merger in 2015. One year before, Forbes had estimated the family’s net worth at $4.4 billion.
He also oversaw the eponymous Wirtz Corp.’s abundant real estate, banking and entertainment holdings, which included co-ownership of the United Center with Bulls and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
“This is just shocking news, and I am personally devastated,” Reinsdorf said in a statement. “Rocky truly was a great man. We were far more than partners at the United Center. We were very close; he was a dear friend, and our trust, our bond, was unbreakable.
“Everyone liked Rocky. He was smart, passionate, generous, personable and friendly. He cared deeply about the Blackhawks, the people who worked for the team and at the United Center, Blackhawks fans and the city of Chicago.”
After taking control of the Hawks in 2007, Wirtz brought a much-welcomed, much-needed fresh perspective, dramatically reversing course from the old-fashioned approach that his father, Bill, and grandfather Arthur had followed while running the team since the family first acquired it in 1954.
Wirtz poured financial investment into the on-ice roster and off-ice front office, most notably hiring John McDonough away from the Cubs to initiate what became the extremely successful “One Goal” marketing campaign.
He also earned instant goodwill from existing fans — and made thousands of new fans — by finally airing Hawks home games on television and renewing ties with a number of popular former players.
“Just because this once was a hockey town didn’t mean you could bring it back,” Wirtz told the Sun-Times during a wide-ranging interview in June 2010. “With the name Wirtz attached, I didn’t know if fans would respond. Anything I could do to promote the team, I did.
“If you want to be a premium team in the league, you have to start acting that way. We started funding things that were not funded before. It let everyone internally know we had a goal ... [and] they all signed on.”
The new approach couldn’t have been better timed. Combined with the team’s improvement into a perennial championship contender — ultimately winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015 — the Hawks evolved from an afterthought within Chicago sports to one of the most recognizable NHL brands.
“Rocky’s focus on connecting with the club’s fans and improving the team’s performance on the ice rekindled Chicago fans’ love affair with their hockey team and built a modern dynasty,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.
“On a personal level, Rocky was a dear friend whose counsel I consistently sought. He was a highly respected member of the Executive Committee of the League’s Board of Governors whose wisdom and camaraderie were valued by his fellow owners.”
Recent years brought rougher times to the Hawks, however, and to Wirtz as well. Wirtz fired McDonough just after the pandemic began in 2020, saying they no longer saw eye-to-eye about bringing the franchise into another new era.
McDonough’s reputation was then obliterated by the Jenner & Block investigation in 2021, which determined McDonough and the rest of the team’s front office had deliberately covered up ex-video coach Brad Aldrich’s sexual assault of former Hawks forward Kyle Beach during the 2010 Cup run.
The investigation “uncovered no evidence that the Blackhawks’ ownership” was aware of the cover-up, but Wirtz’s reputation nonetheless took considerable damage. He then multiplied that damage during the February 2022 town hall, unleashing a viral tirade while refusing to “talk about anything that happened.”
Danny’s appointment as CEO in 2020 began moving Rocky into a less public-facing role, and the town hall incident expedited that process. Rocky hadn’t made a public appearance since Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson’s introductory news conference in March 2022.
But in April, Wirtz closed an agreement to buy a vacant plot of land alongside Jackson Boulevard on the Near West Side next to Fifth Third Arena, the Hawks’ practice facility and community ice rink. He reportedly intended to develop the land into an arena expansion and surrounding campus.
A few weeks later, Wirtz celebrated the Hawks’ draft lottery win May 8 with a glass of wine at a dinner with friends, demonstrating his continued — albeit quieter — involvement in the hockey side of the organization.
His passing even before the NHL debut of Connor Bedard, the new cornerstone player taken with that No. 1 overall draft pick, was entirely unexpected. The news shakes the Hawks’ foundation to its core.
