Timothy J. Leiweke
President & CEO, AEG
PHILADELPHIA, 2006 - 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.
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age
of the Pharaohs
Photo courtesy of National Geographic Traveler
Now in his ninth year with the organization, Leiweke has acquired or merged more than 40 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, The Home Depot Center, Kodak Theatre and HealthSouth Training Center; AEG Sports; AEG Merchandising; AEG Marketing, a sponsorship, sales and consulting company; AEG Real Estate, Creative Services and Business Resources 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, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Prices, Usher, Dixie Chicks, *N Sync 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 42nd, 43rd, 44th and 46th Annual Grammy Awards shows, the first ever Latin Grammy Awards, recurring events such as the Pac 10 Basketball Championships, the X Games and WTA Tour Championships.
Leiweke guided the creation of the recently opened Home Depot Center 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 new home of world-class competition and training facilities for amateur, Olympic, collegiate and professional athletes. The 85-acre development on the campus of California State University Dominguez Hills 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 3500-seat indoor velodrome.
Leiweke next turns his attention to overseeing and managing the creation of a four million square foot sports and entertainment district adjacent to STAPLES Center. The development, encompassing six city blocks, features a 7,000-seat state-of-the-art theatre, a 1200 room, 45 story convention “headquarters” hotel along with residential housing, parking, entertainment, retail and office space.
Under Leiweke, AEG has also begun development of several projects in Europe and Asia. The company was recently selected to fully develop the 28-acre Millennium Dome and adjacent property located in the eastern part of London along the Thames River and will create new arenas - both within the Millennium Dome and on a 50-acre site in the heart of Berlin.
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 currently being performed exclusively 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.
In addition to the Los Angeles Kings and Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy, other professional sports franchises controlled by AEG are the Chicago Fire, DC United, Metrostars and San Jose Earthquakes of MLS, the Manchester (New Hampshire) Monarchs of the American Hockey League, the Reading Royals of the East Coast Hockey League team, and five professional ice hockey teams in Europe – the Berlin Barons, the Munich Barons, Sparta Prague, the Geneva Eagles and Hammarby Hockey. Leiweke also serves on the Los Angeles Lakers Board of Directors representing Philip Anschutz’s 30% ownership stake in the Lakers and Sparks organizations.
Leiweke has also 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, MLB and MLS. In the last five years, the Kings Care Foundation and the STAPLES Center Foundation have pledged a combined $5 million to community organizations.