Education
Ohio State University. Bowling Green State University.
Ohio State University. Bowling Green State University.
Mileti spearheaded a group that purchased the ownership rights to the National Basketball Association"s Cleveland Cavaliers in 1970 to enter the league as an expansion team, paying a fee of $3.7 million. He eventually sold his twenty percent interest in the team in 1980 for $1.4 million. Another syndicate he headed purchased the Indians in 1972 for $10 million from Vernon Stouffer.
In his sports ownership heyday, Mileti was a master of leverage of sorts, owning 51 percent of his enterprises with little of his own money at risk.
Using a hard work ethic, business savvy, which included many contacts, and a high energy level, Mileti, who was able to pull himself up from his working class upbringing in Southeast Cleveland, put himself through college, graduating from Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in 1953. The BGSU Alumni Center is now named in his honor.
Following his time at BGSU, he earned a law degree from Ohio State University. After military service he opened a law practice in Lakewood, Ohio and became prosecutor there after befriending the mayor.
He became involved in sports after serving as chairman of the Bowling Green alumni association and organizing a BGSU game at the Cleveland Arena.
Shortly thereafter he purchased the Arena and its prime tenant, the original Cleveland Barons hockey team Recognizing that the Arena needed another tenant, he succeeded in obtaining an National Basketball Association expansion team In late 1972, Mileti formed Ohio Communications with veteran radio executive Jim Embrescia, which acquired WKYC Department of Administration and Management/1100 and FM/105.7 from National Broadcasting Company, renaming them "3WE" WWWE-Department of Administration and Management and "M105" WWWM-FM. Mileti then moved the radio play-by-play rights for the Indians and Cavaliers, as well as pioneering sports talk host Pete Franklin"s Sportsline, to WWWE, turning the 50,000 watt clear channel signal into a sports radio powerhouse.
During 1973, when it appeared to the Indians" bank creditors that Mileti had spread himself too thin, Mileti named Bonda as the team"s executive vice president
Mileti sold his interest to Bonda and other investors in 1975. Mileti also founded and was the principal owner of the short-lived Canadian Football League team, the Las Vegas Posse in 1994.
Mileti has become a writer in retirement. To date, he has published three books
He was a member of the Theta Chi fraternity at BGSU.