William Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz (October 5, 1952 – July 25, 2023) was an American businessman. He was the principal owner and chairman of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. He was also president of the Blackhawks' parent company, the Wirtz Corporation, a diversified conglomerate headquartered in Chicago. Under Wirtz's leadership, the Chicago Blackhawks won three Stanley Cups between 2010 and 2015, reversing a period of declining fan interest and on-ice performance. He oversaw Wirtz Corporation's commercial and residential real estate companies, wine and spirits distributor Breakthru Beverage Group, an insurance company, and banks in Illinois and Florida. Wirtz was also half-owner of the Blackhawks' home arena, the United Center, along with Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. He and Reinsdorf were co-chairmen of the arena's Executive Committee.
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Education
Wirtz graduated from North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, Illinois in 1971. In 1975, he graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Communications.
Breakthru Beverage Group
Wirtz's grandfather Arthur Wirtz bought the family's first liquor distributorship in 1945. Wirtz grew up in the liquor business and assumed control of Wirtz Beverage Group in 2007. In recognition of his many contributions to and leadership in the beverage industry, the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America honored Wirtz with a Lifetime Leadership Award in 2014. In 2014, Wirtz Beverage expanded outside the U.S. announcing it was taking over as the exclusive Canadian distributor for Diageo beer, wine and spirits brands. The company was the first nationally established beverage alcohol broker in Canada.
In 2015, Wirtz merged the $2.5 billion alcohol-distribution business with Charmer Sunbelt Group to create Breakthru Beverage Group. Today, Breakthru is one of North America's leading distributors of wine, spirits and beer brands with more than $6 billion in annual revenue and operations throughout the U.S. and Canada. At the time of his death, Wirtz served as co-chairman of Breakthru Beverage Group. His son Danny Wirtz plays a large role in the Breakthru's executive leadership as Vice Chairman, also serving on the company's Board of Directors and Operating Committee.
Ownership of the Blackhawks
Rocky Wirtz inherited the Blackhawks soon after the death of his father, William "Dollar Bill" Bill Wirtz, in 2007, becoming only the fifth principal owner in the franchise's 81-year history. His grandfather, Arthur Wirtz, bought a stake in the Blackhawks in 1950, acquiring outright ownership in 1966 and selling a stake to Bill, who inherited full ownership upon Arthur's death in 1983. Rocky's younger brother, Peter, served as Blackhawks executive vice president and supported many of Bill's long-standing policies, so many viewed him as Bill's heir apparent, while Rocky had no prior direct involvement with the team. Peter was immediately named principal owner upon Bill's passing. However, Peter was uninterested in taking the Blackhawks through a rebuild, and he decided to resign as vice president and instead allowed Rocky to assume control of the team, in return for Peter taking over another Wirtz Corp. business which was Bismarck Enterprises.
The Blackhawks franchise faced both financial challenges and on-ice struggles. Over the decade preceding Rocky Wirtz's leadership, the team incurred losses approaching $191 million and managed to qualify for the playoffs only once during that span. This period saw ESPN dubbing the Blackhawks as the worst franchise in professional sports. Wirtz recalls a dire financial predicament where the team found itself unable to cover its own payroll obligations prior to the 2007–08 NHL season. He was forced to borrow money from other companies within the Wirtz Corporation to keep the franchise afloat. Almost immediately after becoming the new owner, Wirtz altered many of his father's policies, which many fans saw as anachronistic. According to a source within the Hawks organization, Wirtz "believes in spending money to make money," in marked contrast to his father's frugal management style.
Wirtz hired John McDonough, who was presently serving as Chicago Cubs team president, to become the new president of the Blackhawks. Wirtz also retained Dale Tallon as Blackhawks general manager and Denis Savard as head coach, while Blackhawks senior vice president Bob Pulford was soon reassigned to Blackhawks liaison on NHL affairs. (Savard would be fired as head coach just four games into the 2008–09 season and replaced by Joel Quenneville.)
On October 22, 2007, Wirtz announced the team negotiated with Comcast SportsNet Chicago (now known as NBC Sports Chicago, of which he was part-owner) to televise home games. This was another break from his father's management style, where games were previously unavailable on television unless they were nationally televised. That season, they began to show seven home games, with Wirtz citing pre-existing agreements Comcast had with other programming as a reason why the remaining 2007–08 home schedule could not air locally.
Personal life and death
Wirtz and his wife Marilyn resided in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Wirtz had three children, including Danny, from a previous marriage, along with a stepdaughter from his second marriage and six grandchildren.
Wirtz died at a hospital in Evanston, Illinois, on July 25, 2023, at the age of 70.
Awards and honors
Three-time Stanley Cup Champion (as owner of the Chicago Blackhawks)
2014 Wine and Spirits of America Lifetime Achievement Award
2010 Chicago Innovation Awards Visionary Award