DETROIT-Local business magnate Mike Ilitch, who owns the DetroitTigers baseball team and Detroit Red Wings hockey team as well asbeing founder/owner of Little Caesar’s Pizza, said Monday that hewants to buy the for-sale Detroit Pistons basketball team. If thepurchase goes through, it’s believed that Ilitch would move thePistons’ stadium from the northern suburbs to Downtown Detroit in anew double-use stadium.

Karen Davidson, widow of late Pistons owner William Davidson,said earlier this year that she wants to sell the team, which playsat the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, MI. Ilitch is one ofthe only people in Michigan who could pull it off to keep the teamlocal. He’s also one of Detroit’s largest landowners through hiscompany Ilitch Holdings, including the Wings’ Joe Louis Arena andthe MotorCity Casino Hotel.

He said in a statement Monday that he wants the team to staylocal. “Detroit is our home. When I read in the paper there was thechance that this great sports town could lose one of itsprofessional sports franchises, I just didn’t see how we could letthat happen,” Ilitch said.