The Sit Down: Chris Ilitch

My parents were very big thinkers. Some people would say, “Let’s just do one.” They’d say, “No, let’s figure out how to do the whole country or the whole world.” 

Little Caesars Arena in The District Detroit [is] very ambitious, probably our most ambitious project to date, but that big thinking undoubtedly comes from them.

I worked in every one of our businesses from the ground level up, and that was invaluable to me.

Creative innovation is really where true financial value has been built in our organization over 60 years. Entrepreneurs, they have to have the courage to take risks from time to time, not play it always so safe. 

Businesses have to recreate themselves. They have to constantly reinvent themselves. We all know that. The competition is changing. The marketplace is changing. Consumer interest and trends are changing. We have to migrate, and we have to reinvent ourselves.

I’m a big believer in details. If I had to just single out three things, I’ll talk about passion, hard work and attention to detail. With those three ingredients, anybody can be unbelievably successful. 

Chris Ilitch on Detroit’s resurgence at a recent SBJ event: “This incredible turnaround … is just very energizing.”Rick Osentoski

Our brand standard for Little Caesars Arena and The District Detroit is “come out and be amazed,” and we’re in the business of world-class sports and entertainment. People work hard for their money. They want to come out and be amazed.

I really challenged our team. I said, “Look, I’m big on innovation. We want three innovations in every room in that building. If you don’t have three innovations, keep churning, keep working to come up with things that are truly groundbreaking, that are different, haven’t been done in the industry that will excite our fans.”That drove a ton of innovation.

[Detroit] was downtrodden for so long, and to see it now rebounding in this incredible turnaround, this amazing comeback is just very energizing. We’re very proud to be playing a central role.

We’ve tried to be very disciplined at Comerica Park each and every year, maintain and improve the facility, and just keep it fresh and exciting to make sure that customer experience stays high. 

At some point, we are going to take it to the next level and really do something more meaningful because we’re seeing how people are reacting in the Little Caesars Arena environment, and it’s leading to some ideas for Comerica Park. 

[When] I got in my role [in 2004], we were an $800 million organization. Today, we’re going to finish this year at $3.6 billion. All of that growth has come from following that blueprint, great leadership, great planning, accountability. That’s really what I try to focus on.

We’ve got leaders coming out of our Latin American operations that are moving to the U.S. or starting to take central roles. We have a lot of women in leadership roles throughout our organization. Diversity is a strength, and it’s something that we try to emphasize. 

I’ve been around doing similar work here for 30 years, and the pace has picked up. It’s either I’m getting slower and older, or the pace is accelerating. … It’s a healthy anxiety, but I’m always constantly thinking about what do we need to be doing next to stay in front of it.

Betting on sports in the United States is going to be a highly impactful occasion. It’s a really important moment in our industry. It’s a big moment. It’s a huge industry in other parts of the world, in Europe, and it will be here as well. It’s important we make sure to pay attention as an industry as to how we go about our business here.

My father is a Marine [and] had an amazing work ethic. I think I got that gene. I get energy from exercise and just eating well. It really allows me to pull through. It’s a big part of the perseverance, too. Protect yourself, because there are so many demands on your time, and you have to take care of yourself physically to be able to plow through and persevere as a leader.