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Tigers would fetch princely sum if Ilitch heirs sell

For a reported $85 million in cash, Mike Ilitch bought the Tigers in 1992 to become owner of his second professional Detroit sports team — an asset that has since exploded in estimated value by more than 1,000%.

Since his death Feb. 10 at age 87, Ilitch family members have indicated no plans or any intention to sell their Major League Baseball or National Hockey League teams, which are to remain "100% Ilitch-family owned" under a succession plan in which Chris Ilitch — the sixth of Mike and Marian Ilitch's seven children — assumed his father's business roles.