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One of today’s true leaders in the professional sports and entertainment industry, Timothy J. Leiweke serves as President & CEO of AEG, a collection of companies owned or operated by the organization considered to be one of the world’s leading presenters of sports and entertainment programming.
Now in his fourteenth year with the organization, and recently selected by the Los Angeles Times as one of the 100 most influential people in southern California and by the Sports Business Journal as the Sports Executive of the Year, Leiweke has acquired or merged more than 50 divisions and companies whose alliances create a global live entertainment organization capable of developing, producing, promoting, marketing and managing sports and entertainment programming in both facilities owned and operated by AEG as well as other venues. AEG divisions such as AEG Live, devoted to all aspects of creating, producing and promoting live entertainment including concerts, productions and special events; AEG Facilities, developers and operators of such venues as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), The Home Depot Center (Carson, CA), Sprint Center (Kansas City, MO), Prudential Center (Newark, NJ), The Rose Garden (Portland, OR), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), WaMu Theater (Seattle, WA), NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE, Nokia Theatre Times Square, the El Rey Theatre (Hollywood, CA), Acer Arena (Sydney, AU), Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena, Color Line Arena (Hamburg, Germany) O2 World arena (Berlin) and The O2, a 28-acre development located in the eastern part of London which includes a 20,000 seat arena and over 650,000sf of leisure and entertainment use; AEG Global Partnerships; AEG Sports; AEG Merchandising; AEG Marketing, AEG Real Estate and AEG Creative all operate under his direction.
As President of STAPLES Center, twice recipient of Pollstar’s prestigious “Arena of the Year” award, Leiweke was responsible for the overall development of the downtown Los Angeles showplace for major events and performances. Built under his direction in a record 18 months, STAPLES Center is the home of five professional sports franchises including the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles Clippers,
Los Angeles Avengers and Los Angeles Sparks; the most prestigious concerts and shows including Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (who played the arena’s first ever public event on October 17, 1999), the Eagles, U2, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Prince, Usher, Kenny Chesney, *N Sync, The Police, Rod Stewart and Don Henley. Leiweke played a major role in bringing such one-of-a-kind events to Los Angeles and STAPLES Center as the 2000 Democratic National Convention, the 2002 United States Figure Skating Championships, the 2002 NHL All-Star Game, the 2004 NBA All-Star Game, the seven of the last eight Annual Grammy Awards shows, the first ever Latin Grammy Awards and recurring events such as the Pac 10 Basketball Championships and the X Games.
Leiweke guided the creation of The Home Depot Center, built on the campus of California State University Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The $150 million development (the largest-ever private investment in amateur athletics) which has been designated an official U.S. Olympic Training Site, is southern California’s home of world-class competition and training faculties for amateur, Olympic, collegiate and professional athletes. The 85-acre development features a 13,000-seat stadium for tennis,
a 27,000-seat stadium for soccer and outdoor concerts, a 20,000-seat facility for track & field and the ADT Event Center, a 2,400-seat indoor velodrome as well as the David Beckham Academy and (Andre) Agassi’s Safe Passage All Stars program.
Leiweke now turns his attention to overseeing development and management of the recently opened L.A. LIVE, a four million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential and entertainment district adjacent to STAPLES Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center featuring Club Nokia, a 2,300 capacity live music venue, Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, a 7,100-seat live theatre, a 54-story, 1001-room convention “headquarters” destination (featuring The Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott hotels and 224 luxury condominiums – The Ritz Carlton Residences at L.A. LIVE – all in a single tower, opening first quarter, 2010) , a 14-screen Regal Cineplex, “broadcast” facilities for ESPN along with entertainment, residential, restaurant and office space.
Leiweke is credited with assembling an unprecedented partnership to create, produce and develop A New Day…, a theatrical production starring Celine Dion and a cast of 60 dancers, musicians, characters and artists which recently completed a five year engagement at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas which was produced by AEG Live Touring and Special events. The division is also overseeing the international museum tour “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” a one-of-a-kind collection of artifacts from ancient Egypt as well as recent concert tours starring Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesney and Prince.
In addition to the Los Angeles Kings and Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy, AEG Sports oversees professional sports franchises such as the Houston Dynamo of MLS, the newly launched Los Angeles Sol of the Women’s Professionsl Soccer League, the Manchester (New Hampshire) Monarchs (AHL), the Reading Royals (ECHL), and two professional ice hockey teams in Europe – the Berlin Eisbarons and Hamburg Freesers in addition to directing the operations of events such as the Amgen Tour of California cycling road race, ING Bay to Breakers foot race (San Francisco) and international soccer exhibitions held in the United States. Leiweke also serves on the Los Angeles Lakers Board of Directors representing private ownership shares of the Los Angeles Lakers organization.
Leiweke initiated the formation and direction of the Kings Care Foundation, which was awarded the 1999 Pro Team Community Award given annually to the franchise that demonstrates the most effective humanitarian community program in all of professional sports, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS. In the last ten years, the Kings Care Foundation, STAPLES Center Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation and AEG have pledged a combined $14 million to community organizations.
Leiweke (LYE-wick-ee) has enjoyed an impressive history of success and experience in sports. Before moving to Los Angeles to join the Kings, he served as president and CEO for U.S. Skiing, a post he assumed in September 1995, after four seasons with the Denver Nuggets (1991-95). While in Denver, Leiweke not only played a role in the relocation of the Quebec Nordiques to Colorado but also guided the initial development and design of the Pepsi Center. As President of the Nuggets, Leiweke helped make the team a success at the gate and in the community. Attendance at Nugget games went from an average of less than 11,000 per game in 1990-91 to selling out every home game (17,171 capacity) in 1994-95. He again placed a high priority on presence in the community by involving the Nuggets in a variety of programs throughout Denver. In all, the team contributed millions of dollars to charities and other worthy causes during his tenure.
The first employee hired by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1988, Leiweke served as Vice President for the NBA franchise for four seasons and helped the club to an NBA attendance record by averaging 26,160 per game in their first season. He also handled naming rights, marketing and sales for all events at the Target Center.
A native of St. Louis, Leiweke’s career in sports administration began in 1979 as the assistant general manager for the Major Indoor Soccer League’s St. Louis Steamers. A year later, he became the youngest (24) general manager in pro sports by assuming that post with the MISL’s Baltimore Blast. In 1981-82, he became Vice President and General Manager of the Kansas City Comets, and later became its President in 1986.
Along with his wife, Bernadette, Leiweke has spent an enormous amount of time and effort dedicated to numerous charitable causes within each of the local communities they have resided. As a tribute to his commitment to Los Angeles, he has been honored by such organizations as Para Los Niños, the Anti-Defamation League as recipient of their 2007 Humanitarian Award, the Neil Bogart Memorial Fund with their 2003 Children’s Choice Award, as Father of the Year by the American Diabetes Association, the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce, as a Treasure of Los Angeles by the Central City Association, Special Olympics of Southern California, Los Angeles Conservation Corps, the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation with their Champion for Youth Award, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Latin Business Association, the Korean American Federation, the Muscular Dystrophy Association as their Man of the Year, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce as their Distinguished Man of the Year and as the recipient of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitor’s Bureau’s Los Amigos de Los Angeles Award. Leiweke is currently serving as a member of the Board of Trustees for Para Los Niños and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and has recently been appointed to Chair the Rainbow/PUSH Entertainment Project.
Tim and his wife Bernadette reside in Brentwood, California and have a daughter Francesca
Website: www.aegworldwide.com |
