Timothy J. Leiweke (born April 21, 1957) is an American sports executive who is the chief executive officer of the

Oak View Group OVG Oak View Group, LLC is an American Global Advisory, Development and Investment Company for Sports and Live Entertainment industries. Based in Los Angeles, it was formed on November 16, 2015 by Tim Leiweke and his business partner, Irving Azoff ...

. Leiweke was the former president and CEO of

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(MLSE) and former President and CEO of

Anschutz Entertainment Group The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports even ...

(AEG). Leiweke held roughly a 4% stake in AEG as of 2012, and is well known for his relationship with notoriously reclusive AEG founder and

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based billionaire Philip Anschutz, whom he has known since the early 1990s. Since November 2015, Leiweke has served as the CEO of the Oak View Group, "a global advisory, development and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries".

Anschutz Entertainment Group

Leiweke was President and CEO of

(AEG), which owns the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

, the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

, part of the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, the

L.A. Live L.A. Live is an entertainment complex in the South Park District of Downtown Los Angeles, California. It is adjacent to the Crypto.com Arena and Los Angeles Convention Center. L.A. Live was developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), Wach ...

entertainment complex, as well as multiple sporting and entertainment venues around the world, such as the

StubHub Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignity ...

and the

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decem ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, which it manages. In September 2012 it was announced that AEG would be put up for sale. A deal for the privately owned group, reportedly worth up to $10 billion, was expected to be announced sometime in the first half of 2013. On March 14, 2013 Anschutz announced that AEG was no longer for sale. In an interview, Anschutz stated that he had recently become "reengaged" in the business and also suggested the company had failed to receive bids nearing the $8 to $10 billion asking price. On the same day it was announced the sale had been called off, it was announced Leiweke would be replaced as President and CEO by AEG executive Dan Beckerman, who previously has served as both

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

and

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

. The change in leadership was attributed by some analysts as a reaction to the failure AEG experienced in attracting serious bidders during the sale process and its inability securing an NFL occupant for the Farmers Field, a proposed stadium next to L.A. Live.

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment

Leiweke became President and CEO of MLSE on April 26, 2013. MLSE properties include the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

of the NHL, the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

of the NBA and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

team

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

, as well as multiple sport and residential properties such as

Scotiabank Arena Scotiabank Arena ( French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Rap ...

Ricoh Coliseum Coca-Cola Coliseum is an arena at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, used for agricultural displays, ice hockey, and trade shows. It was built for the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (the Roya ...

, and

Maple Leaf Square Maple Leaf Square is a multi-use complex and public square located in the South Core neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located to the west of the Scotiabank Arena on the former Railway Lands. The $500 million development was joint ...

. During his tenure, Leiweke assumed residence in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of mobile phone operator, wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet access, Intern ...

and

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...

own a combined 75% of MLSE. He was integral in the signings of Toronto FC designated players Michael Bradley,

Jermain Defoe Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He also played for the England national team. Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team aged 14, be ...

, and

Sebastian Giovinco Sebastian Giovinco (; born 26 January 1987) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A quick and creative player on the ball, Giovinco was a versatile forward capable of playing in multiple offensive positions. Gio ...

, as well as the hiring of Maple Leafs president

Brendan Shanahan Brendan Frederick Shanahan (born January 23, 1969) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player who currently serves as the president and alternate governor for the Toronto Maple Leafs, having previously served as the direct ...

and Toronto Raptors president

Masai Ujiri Masai Ujiri (born 7 July 1970) is a British-born, Nigerian-Canadian professional basketball executive and former player and is the president of basketball operations of the Toronto Raptors in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a m ...

. On August 21, 2014, Leiweke announced that he would be leaving MLSE and would remain in his role until June 30, 2015 or until MLSE had named his successor. Leiweke ultimately left MLSE on October 29, 2015 after the appointment of Michael Friisdahl as his successor.

Oak View Group

On November 16, 2015, Leiweke & his business partner,

Irving Azoff Irving Azoff (; born December 12, 1947) is an American entertainment executive and chairman of Full Stop Management, which represents recording artists. In the mid-1980s, he brought success to MCA Records. Since September 2013, he has been chai ...

, founded the

(OVG), a Los Angeles-based "global advisory, development and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries". Leiweke serves as OVG's CEO. On December 4, 2017, the

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-lar ...

voted 7–1 to approve a memorandum of understanding with the Oak View Group, for renovations of

KeyArena Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of Downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was ori ...

. Renovations for the arena began in 2018 and will be fully completed in 2021. On December 7, the NHL's board of governors agreed to consider an application for an expansion team from Seattle, the

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. ...

, with an expansion fee set at $650 million. The Seattle ownership group is represented by David Bonderman and

Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television Film producer, producer. He has been active in the genres of Action film, action, Drama film, drama, Fantasy film, fantasy, and Science fiction film, science fi ...

. On February 20, Mayor Jenny Durkan launched an NHL campaign during her State of the City and announced that the Oak View Group would be initiating a season ticket drive on March 1, 2018. On December 4, 2018, the National Hockey League announced that the league would expand to Seattle in 2021 with the approval of the group's bid.

Personal life

Leiweke is married to Bernadette. They have one daughter, Francesca, who is married to Troy Bodie, a pro hockey scout and former player in the

organization. As of 2016, Francesca serves as vice president of business development for her father's company, the Oak View Group. Tim's younger brother,

Tod Leiweke Tod Leiweke (born January 12, 1960, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American sports executive who is currently part-owner, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Seattle Kraken. Career In the early 1980s, Leiweke was vice president of th ...

, is currently the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and president of the

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, and formerly the

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

between 2015 and 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leiweke, Tim 1957 births Living people American chief executives of professional sports organizations American expatriates in Canada Los Angeles Kings executives Major League Soccer executives Businesspeople from Los Angeles Businesspeople from St. Louis Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Toronto Maple Leafs executives Toronto Raptors executives