Report: MLSE CEO Steps Down

[pilkoids]

why in the world would masai want this job, there is a reason many on this board never knew this persons name who is stepping down. .

does masai really want to sit in his office decide over when to replace scoreboard, deal with hiring food vendor companies, ticket promotions etc etc.

If that's what that job entails, I'd be surprised if Masai even wanted it. That takes him further away from actual basketball operations. Unless he could also leverage that position to help Africa-ball?

[Morris_Shatford]

Time for a surprise Tim Leiweke Return!!!!!

[MavCarter]

MLSE structure is different now. The ceo handles strictly business decisions while the team presidents report directly to the board. No way in hell would masai want that job

[libertyYYZ]

Don't think Ed Rogers is looking to give Masai more power. Seems more like a bad sign...

Yeah...his wife doesn't even like him.

Watch on YouTube

[WaltFrazier]

I'm pretty sure the CEO role has little to do with the sports side of things. It's the Presidents - Masai, Shanahan, Manning - that run the franchises. MLSE learned what happens when the Richard Peddie's of the world start meddling.

Even if the CEO had oversight on the teams, why would he want to run any other franchise outside perhaps TFC?

Did he replace Liewicke? Because he was pretty hands on with the sports

[douggood]

I'm pretty sure the CEO role has little to do with the sports side of things. It's the Presidents - Masai, Shanahan, Manning - that run the franchises. MLSE learned what happens when the Richard Peddie's of the world start meddling.

Even if the CEO had oversight on the teams, why would he want to run any other franchise outside perhaps TFC?

Did he replace Liewicke? Because he was pretty hands on with the sports

he hired shanahan and masai and got out of the way;
Liewicke left because there was nothing more to do here; got all star game, raptors practice arena built, upgrades to bmo field. was there for 905 startup; he was very involved in the TFC side of things though.

rumbing was that Liewicke came here to secure a nfl team, when that didnt happen left to do other things.

[bluerap23]

Don't think Ed Rogers is looking to give Masai more power. Seems more like a bad sign...

The Eddie takeover is real.

Yeah, he ain't giving nothing up to no one, let alone more power to Masai. Should be very interesting.

On the Ed Rogers scumbag angle this is pretty funny.

Apparently his wife hired the guy who plays Logan Roy for this video as a birthday present.

Read on Twitter

[ruckus]

As long as it doesn't affect the on court product, I don't care who the CEO is.

[ForeverTFC]

I'm pretty sure the CEO role has little to do with the sports side of things. It's the Presidents - Masai, Shanahan, Manning - that run the franchises. MLSE learned what happens when the Richard Peddie's of the world start meddling.

Even if the CEO had oversight on the teams, why would he want to run any other franchise outside perhaps TFC?

Did he replace Liewicke? Because he was pretty hands on with the sports

he hired shanahan and masai and got out of the way;
Liewicke left because there was nothing more to do here; got all star game, raptors practice arena built, upgrades to bmo field. was there for 905 startup; he was very involved in the TFC side of things though.

rumbing was that Liewicke came here to secure a nfl team, when that didnt happen left to do other things.

Yup, Leiweke was the ani-Peddie. Brought in actual management for the teams. He was involved with TFC but for a large part left the Raptors and Leafs alone once he hired his guys. His main goal was getting an NFL franchise which didn't work and there were a bunch of reports that MLSE and Larry didn't really like how he wanted to "Americanize" the operations of running the business, stadiums, concessions, etc.

[C_Money]

why in the world would masai want this job, there is a reason many on this board never knew this persons name who is stepping down. .

does masai really want to sit in his office decide over when to replace scoreboard, deal with hiring food vendor companies, ticket promotions etc etc.

If that's what that job entails, I'd be surprised if Masai even wanted it. That takes him further away from actual basketball operations. Unless he could also leverage that position to help Africa-ball?

I’m pretty sure Masai does some of that stuff already. Every aspect of running the team would have to go through him including ticket promotions etc.

[tecumseh18]

Yup, Leiweke was the ani-Peddie.

Oh god, SN had Peddie on the drive home show this afternoon to discuss this. Every time I think I've heard the last of that useless weasel, he pops back up.

Peddie

BTW, where's Guy been lately?

[WaltFrazier]

Yup, Leiweke was the ani-Peddie.

Oh god, SN had Peddie on the drive home show this afternoon to discuss this. Every time I think I've heard the last of that useless weasel, he pops back up.

Peddie

BTW, where's Guy been lately?

I always feel like there are so many comments on this board about the bad old days of BC, or Babcock, and not enough discredit is given to Peddie.

Someone gave me his book thinking I'd like it being a sports fan. Painful read but I finished it. Full of self-aggrandizing descriptions about all the wonderful "best practices" he brought to MLSE management. Took no responsibility for bad hirings, or the VC fiasco. But one interesting tidbit near the end - he describes attending an NBA board of governors meeting where one of the owners asked something like, what can we do about the bad officiating, make it more accountable, etc. David Stern ripped a strip off the guy, read the riot act, no one must ever criticize our officials etc etc. Stern being so defensive confirmed for me suspicions of "fixed' refereeing.

[tecumseh18]

But one interesting tidbit near the end - [Peddie] describes attending an NBA board of governors meeting where one of the owners asked something like, what can we do about the bad officiating, make it more accountable, etc. David Stern ripped a strip off the guy, read the riot act, no one must ever criticize our officials etc etc. Stern being so defensive confirmed for me suspicions of "fixed' refereeing.

Ten years ago, I knew a local tavern owner and big Raps fan. NBA referees would go to his establishment after games, and apparently told him that the Raps consistently winning games was not considered by head office (i.e. ownership as a whole) to be conducive to league success. The league never specifically told the refs what to do, but ... the points of emphasis they were given made it pretty obvious.

In 2019, I think the league was simply ready to draw the curtain on the era of Warriors' domination. Kawhi was obviously a proven superstar, so he could attract viewership regardless of his team. And maybe even Drake helped make a Raptors win palatable.

[WaltFrazier]

But one interesting tidbit near the end - [Peddie] describes attending an NBA board of governors meeting where one of the owners asked something like, what can we do about the bad officiating, make it more accountable, etc. David Stern ripped a strip off the guy, read the riot act, no one must ever criticize our officials etc etc. Stern being so defensive confirmed for me suspicions of "fixed' refereeing.

Ten years ago, I knew a local tavern owner and big Raps fan. NBA referees would go to his establishment after games, and apparently told him that the Raps consistently winning games was not considered by head office (i.e. ownership as a whole) to be conducive to league success. The league never specifically told the refs what to do, but ... the points of emphasis they were given made it pretty obvious.

In 2019, I think the league was simply ready to draw the curtain on the era of Warriors' domination. Kawhi was obviously a proven superstar, so he could attract viewership regardless of his team. And maybe even Drake helped make a Raptors win palatable.

I want to believe that. It certainly fits what I have thought for years, not just about the Raptors but in general. And we see it almost every Raptor game now, how opponents go to the line readily while Pascal and OG drive a lot but don't get there as much as they should.
Surprisingly that refs would talk about this so carelessly though

[tecumseh18]

Surprisingly that refs would talk about this so carelessly though

Did I mention alcohol was involved?

I mean, it's second-hand info to me, third-hand info to you. Who the hell knows? But as you say, it fits with the observed facts. The worst was the games in Cleveland in the 2016 ECF. Raps couldn't get a break from the refs, and just gave up in those games. The league had every interest in ensuring a Cavs-Warriors finals.

But I'm not a complete conspiracy theorist, I watch the opposing games feed most times, and it really does go both ways. For example the other night, Raptor players made several dirty plays against the Heat guys, including Scottie yanking Bam's arm (I call that the "Kelly" play) and OG bumping a guy during a dunk. I dunno if that factored into the hit on Scottie not being ruled a flagrant, but it sure didn't help.

[Many7695]

It’s been almost a year since Michael Friisdahl stepped down as the CEO/President, has anyone heard anything on who they might hire or at this point will they hire anybody for that position

[WuTang_CMB]

It’s been almost a year since Michael Friisdahl stepped down as the CEO/President, has anyone heard anything on who they might hire or at this point will they hire anybody for that position

yes they decided to take off the interim tag on their CFO and give her full time CEO position. So they just hired a new CFO to take her old job

The CEO position doesnt really matter when it comes to the teams and winning because the Presidents (Shanny, Masai, Manning) report directly to the board.

[Raps in 4]

Ed Rogers only has holds 37.5%. If Bell and Larry want Masai, it would be Masai. Doubt Masai is a real option though, that would be a completely different direction for him.

lets be real, he would be amazing at it. if he wants to run soccer and basketball, this would be his ideal gig , so much power

Masai, with whatever limited knowledge he probably has of hockey, would do a better job managing the Leafs than Dubas.

[Psubs]

No surprise that another aviation company wanted him, apparently this guy took Air Canada to a completely different level as an airline.

My question is, are we losing a big time basketball supporter like when we lost Cope? Whoever the replacement is, I hope they're a big basketball fan.

STILL it's not a 5-star airline.

[Johnny Bball]

nm...