DETROIT – The Red Wings will recognize a historic attendance mark this Saturday, Dec. 16, as the 25,000,000th fan to attend a Wings game since Mike and Marian Ilitch purchased the franchise will pass through the Joe Louis Arena doors.

Having purchased the team in June, 1982, the Ilitches turned a once-struggling franchise into the most successful modern-day National Hockey League team, winning four Stanley Cups, six President’s Trophies, six conference titles and 16 division championships.

A fan attending Saturday’s game vs. the Los Angeles Kings (7 p.m. on FSD and 97.1 The Ticket) will be randomly selected as they enter JLA and invited back to The Joe for the Red Wings' New Year’s Eve contest vs. St. Louis. The honorary 25 millionth fan will receive several gifts, including a limo ride to and from the game, dinner in the CC Olympia Club and a jersey of their favorite Red Wings player.

Detroit leads the NHL in combined home/road 2011-12 attendance, and have a current 43-game sellout streak at JLA that began on December 10, 2010, when 20,066 spectators took in a match between Detroit and Dallas. 


About the Red Wings: The Red Wings hockey club, an Original Six member of the National Hockey League and 11-time Stanley Cup champion, was purchased by Michael and Marian Ilitch in 1982. Other Ilitch companies in the food, sports and entertainment industries include, Little Caesars Pizza, Blue Line Foodservice Distribution, Ilitch Holdings, Inc., Olympia Entertainment, Olympia Development, Little Caesars Pizza Kit Fundraising Program, Champion Foods and Uptown Entertainment. Michael Ilitch owns the Detroit Tigers. Marian Ilitch owns the MotorCity Casino Hotel. For more information, visit www.DetroitRedWings.com.