Timothy J. Leiweke, AEG President and CEO
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 LA 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 US Olympic Training Site, is southern California’s home of world-class competition and training faculties for amateur, Olympic, collegiate and professional athletes.
Leiweke now turns his attention to overseeing and managing the creation of LA 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 the just opened Nokia Theatre LA Live, a 7,100-seat state-of-the-art theatre, a 1001 room, 54-story convention “headquarters” hotel (combining The Ritz Carlton & JW Marriott brands with 224 luxury condominiums –The Ritz Carlton Residences at LA Live – in a single tower), Club Nokia LA Live, a 2,300 capacity live music venue, broadcast facilities for ESPN, a 14-screen Regal Cineplex, 10 world class restaurants along with residential, entertainment 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. Directed by Franco Dragone, the director and creator behind the critically acclaimed Cirque du Soleil productions, produced by AEG Live Special Events & Touring and presented by Chrysler, A New Day…is a unique entertainment experience in which concert, dance, theatre and multi-media – including extraordinary visual landscapes on the largest indoor high-definition LED screen in the world – are seamlessly blended.
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 US 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.
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.
Lisa Herzlich, AEG Senior Vice-President & Managing Director, LA Live
Lisa Herzlich is responsible for the overall general management of the campus including lease negotiations, tenant communications, human resources, employee customer service training, guest services, marketing, promotions, public and community relations, sales and special events.
Most recently, Herzlich worked for Denver’s Cherry Creek Shopping Center, a 1.1 million square foot shopping and entertainment district developed and managed by The Taubman Company. In this capacity, she was responsible for implementing a strategic marketing, special events, community relations and sponsorship plan which directly led to increased sales productivity as well as positioning Cherry Creek as Denver’s number one tourist attraction.
In addition to her responsibilities at Cherry Creek, Herzlich was appointed to the Colorado Tourism Board and the Mayor’s Commission of Arts, Culture and Film by the Governor and the Mayor respectively, and was named one of Denver’s top 25 people to watch by Denver’s city magazine 5280.
Robert Santelli,Executive Director, Grammy Museum
When AEG decided to develop the GRAMMYTM Museum as part of its LA Live entertainment campus in downtown Los Angeles, the obvious choice to head this project was Robert Santelli. With years of experience as an executive at both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland and Experience Music Project in Seattle, Santelli possessed the dynamic vision and creativity needed for this project.
Robert Santelli has been a longtime member of the Recording Academy, most recently serving as the Vice President of the Pacific Northwest Chapter from 2001 – 2006. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the National Music Museum Alliance, and he spearheaded the US Congressional initiative to name 2003 “The Year of the Blues.”
A noted blues and rock historian, Santelli has authored and edited more than a dozen books, including The Big Book of Blues, The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, and his most recent work, Greetings from E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, published in 2006. In addition, Santelli has written numerous articles for such magazines as Rolling Stone, CD Review, Downbeat, Backstreets, and New Jersey Monthly, along with newspapers such as the New York Times, Asbury Park Press and The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Ted Tanner, Executive Vice President - Real Estate, AEG Real Estate Development/LA Live Member, Executive Committee
Guiding the real estate acquisition, master planning, entitlement and development strategy for LA Live, the 40-acre, four million square foot sports & entertainment district adjacent to Staples Center is Ted Tanner. With over 30 years of real estate development, architecture and urban design experience, Tanner has created the master plan that incorporates 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 LA Live – all in a single tower), three clubs, 12 restaurants, the Grammy Museum, and additional residential units, entertainment, hospitality, F&B and office space, parking and an outdoor plaza into this dynamic mixed use urban district.
Tanner also oversees AEG’s public and governmental affairs division and has played a role in the company’s union negotiations as well as community/business outreach and successfully concluded a comprehensive Community Benefit Agreement.
Recently, Tanner has also spearheaded the organization’s development of several arenas, stadiums and entertainment districts and other mixed-use developments along with key acquisitions in cities such as Carson, California (The Home Depot Center), Berlin, (The O2 World Arena) and The O2 London, a28-acre development located in East London along the Thames River and includes a 20,000-seat arena , 650,000 sf of leisure and entertainment use with a hotel and office uses in the planning stages..
About AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), Prudential Center (Newark, NJ), Sprint Center (Kansas City, MO), Citizen’s Business Bank Arena (Ontario, CA), The Rose Garden (Portland, OR), WaMu Theatre (Seattle, WA), XL Center (Hartford, CT), El Rey Theatre (Hollywood, CA), Colosseum at Caesars Palace (Las Vegas, NV), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), Rentschler Field (Hartford, CT), Nokia Theatre Times Square, Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie, Acer Arena (Sydney, AU), Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena, Color Line Arena (Hamburg), O2 World arena (Berlin) and The O2, a 28-acre development located in the eastern part of London along the Thames River which includes a 20,000-seat arena and over 650,000 sf of leisure and entertainment use; sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Manchester Monarchs (AHL), Reading Royals (ECHL), Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS), two hockey franchises operated in Europe, the Hammarby (Sweden) Futbol Club and management of privately held shares of the Los Angeles Lakers; AEG Facilities, a stand-alone affiliate that operates or consults with more than 90 of the industries preeminent venues worldwide; AEG Merchandising, a multi-faceted merchandising company; AEG Creative, a full-service marketing and advertising agency and AEG Global Partnerships, a division responsible for worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships naming rights and other strategic partnerships.
AEG Live, one of the world’s leading concert promotion and touring companies, with thirteen regional offices, is comprised of stand-alone affiliate divisions devoted to all aspects of live entertainment including: AEG Live Events, creators and producers of special events of all sizes; AEG-TV, creators of live events for television, DVD, pay-per-view, cinema and other electronic media; and AEG Live Tours & Special Events, Concerts West, Goldenvoice, The Messina Group and AEG Exhibitions, the company’s national entertainment promotion and touring divisions.
AEG is overseeing the development of LA Live, a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring the recently opened Nokia Theatre LA Live (7,100-seat live theatre) and Club Nokia (2,300 capacity live music venue), a 54-story, 1001-room convention “headquarters” destination (featuring The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels and 224 luxury condominiums – The Residences at The Ritz Carlton – all in a single tower), a 14-screen Regal Cineplex, “broadcast” facilities for ESPN, along with entertainment, restaurant and office space. The company is also developing 12 arenas in China and an arena on the Las Vegas Strip.
For more information on AEG, visit www.aegworldwide.com. (Special thanks to Cassandra Zebisch and Melissa Trivino for this information).
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
