For the past year, MLSE has been run as a function of one man’s outsized personality. It can’t just go back to being an insurance company that happens to own a hockey team.
Troublingly, they also can’t find another guy who exists at Mr. Leiweke’s level, because such a person does not exist. He wasn’t just the best-connected sports executive in the country. He may have been the most hooked-in entertainment operator in the world.
Take the most famous Leiweke recruit – Drake.
In recent years, the hip-hop star had reached out on several occasions to MLSE, wanting to get involved with the Raptors. He didn’t really care how. This wasn’t a business opportunity. This was a fan with leverage.
No one at MLSE ever returned his calls. Think about that. Seriously. If you’re a fan of any one of MLSE’s teams, have a long think about what you’re going back to.
Eventually, Drake gave up.
Shortly after taking the job in Toronto, Mr. Leiweke was back in L.A. having a friendly chat with Scooter Braun, the man who manages Justin Bieber’s musical career. Mr. Braun mentioned Drake’s interest. Mr. Leiweke made the call.
Drake had no suggestions as to his role. Mr. Leiweke dreamed up the global brand ambassador title. It was all done in days. The effect on the club’s continental reputation has been seismic.
Draw a straight line from Drake to the “We The North” campaign to Kyle Lowry deciding he preferred the Raptors to the Lakers or the Knicks. Draw a line between all those moves and relevance.
Two years ago, that was impossible. Two years from now, without Mr. Leiweke, it’s impossible again.
Some more tidbits:
Without Mr. Leiweke, Masai Ujiri is not the general manager of the Raptors.
Without Mr. Leiweke, Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley don’t both make risky leaps to Major League Soccer. It was Mr. Bradley’s agent, Ron Waxman, who reached out in the first place to Toronto FC. He’s the one who sold the idea to his player. Why?
“I really liked what Tim was doing there,” Mr. Waxman said. Not the team. Not the GM. “Tim.”
Mr. Ujiri, for one, has been frustrated at the corporation’s initial reluctance to build his team a new $30-million training facility (a key recruiting tool). It’s only happening now because Mr. Leiweke went to war for him at the board level.
What’s keeping Mr. Ujiri here now, aside from a paycheque? Who is his rabbi in management?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/kelly-the-future-looks-bleak-for-mlse-and-all-its-teams/article20166786/?click=sf_globe#dashboard/follows/
