Tod Leiweke (born January 12, 1960, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

) is an American sports executive who is currently part-owner,

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and

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 especial ...

(CEO) of 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. ...

Career

In the early 1980s, Leiweke was vice president of the New York Arrows indoor soccer team. Leiweke was the chief executive officer of the Seattle Seahawks 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 ...

, owned by

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which ...

, and the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer. Leiweke also was the CEO of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment (VSE), a management company also owned by Allen which oversees Allen's sports-related properties. Prior to his employment with Allen, Leiweke had served as president of the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

, was the first executive director of The First Tee and previously held executive positions with the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

, the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

, and the Golden State Warriors. Leiweke joined the Seahawks in 2003. In 2005, the team advanced to

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2007, he became acting president of the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

, replacing Steve Patterson. Vulcan Sports and Entertainment was created at that time. Leiweke served as acting president until June 20 of that year, when the team named Larry Miller to be its president. Leiweke was the key deciding factor in the firing of former Seahawks coach Jim L. Mora in January 2010, and was also the main benefactor in the hiring of USC coach

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC from ...

. Leiweke was hired on July 26, 2010, to become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Minority Owner of Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment including the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

, the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

Tampa Bay Times Forum Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Coun ...

, and the combined Cascade and TBSE Real Estate Project. On July 24, 2015, it was announced that Leiweke would resign from his projects in Tampa Bay to join the NFL as their new

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 ...

. He became the first NFL COO since commissioner Roger Goodell took over in 2003. On March 13, 2018, Leiweke resigned as COO of the NFL. The ownership group of the Seattle Kraken, Seattle's National Hockey League expansion team, announced on April 11, 2018, that Leiweke would become the president and CEO of the team. He is also a minority owner of the Kraken.

Personal life

Tod is the younger brother of

Tim Leiweke Timothy J. Leiweke (born April 21, 1957) is an American sports executive who is the chief executive officer of the Oak View Group. Leiweke was the former president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) and former President and CEO of ...

, president and CEO of

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 Azof ...

. He and his wife Tara became part-owners of the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer in 2020. They have two children, Tyler and Tori.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leiweke, Tod 1960 births Houston Rockets general managers Living people Minnesota Wild executives Portland Trail Blazers executives Seattle Kraken owners Seattle Seahawks executives Businesspeople from St. Louis Tampa Bay Lightning executives Vancouver Canucks executives Arena Football League executives