Former Air Canada exec named new MLSE boss,
Hiring signals shift in leadership style, substance for sports giant
The search for a successor to Tim Leiweke spanned 16 months, but in the end Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment recruited a new CEO from close to home.
Thursday morning, the organization named Air Canada Leisure executive Michael Friisdahl its new president and CEO, ending speculation about who would replace Leiweke and signaling a shift in leadership style and substance.
Unlike Leiweke, who had a long and celebrated track record as a sports executive when MLSE hired him in 2013, Friisdahl has spent most of his career in the airline industry. He’ll stay on as CEO of Air Canada’s discount carrier before taking over at MLSE in December.
“It’s been in the works for a while and I get to see it come to fruition,” Friisdahl said in a phone interview. “(MLSE) is a big and complex business.”
His selection highlights changing priorities for the multi-property sport and entertainment giant.
Where Leiweke was hired to change the company’s culture, Friisdahl was brought in to fit in, and the incoming boss recognizes MLSE’s board doesn’t expect him to shake up its sports properties. He wants to keep them moving forward. “How can we improve on what, quite frankly, is a really strong base that has been built over the last few years?” he says. “The most important thing is to . . . deliver a championship.”
The MLSE presidency is one of the most high-profile posts in the North American sports industry and involves overseeing an empire that includes sports teams, facilities, condos, restaurants and retail spaces.
In June 2014, after a year on the job, Leiweke announced he would leave MLSE by mid-2015, and later agreed to stick around indefinitely while the company searched for a new leader. Since then speculation has rippled about who would replace him, though no clear candidate emerged.
But last week, news reports emerged from Miami that Leiweke was headed there to help direct David Beckham’s bid for an MLS franchise. When Leiweke acknowledged the Miami job was an option, it hinted that MLSE’s executive search had made significant progress.
Friisdahl’s hiring means Leiweke can finally make concrete plans.
“I respect and relish having new leadership, I think it’s great,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey told the Star. “Tim Leiweke did a heck of a job for our organization giving us a kick in the butt, a shot in the arm, and I’m excited about the incoming president and CEO.”
Few observers outside MLSE expected Friisdahl to get the call, but say he’s close to the type of executive the company would be expected to hire after Leiweke. His current employer is one of MLSE’s corporate partners, and he figures to spend less time in the spotlight than the charismatic, big-thinking Leiweke.
A search of the Star’s archives returns only nine hits for Friisdahl’s name. Before Leiweke was hired in Toronto, his name had appeared 39 times. Where Leiweke promoted MLSE’s brand worldwide, the Friisdahl hire appears aimed at on managing internally.
“(After) a move in one direction, the next iteration is often a change in the other direction,” says Cheri Bradish, chair of the sports marketing department at Ryerson University. “I would have been surprised if they went with another outside-the-box thinker.”
Soon after his hiring, Leiweke launched aggressive on-field and front-office overhauls of MLSE’s sports franchises, and embarked on an ambitious expansion of the company’s corporate partnerships. Canadian Tire signed on quickly, while MLSE also courted sponsorship dollars in China. Less than a month into the job Leiweke announced he’d already planned the route for a Maple Leafs Stanley Cup parade.
Friisdahl, meanwhile, says sports teams aren’t his focus. He’ll concentrate on improving fan experience and working with the managers of MLSE’s various enterprises.
Sports business consultant Brian Cooper says Friisdahl’s customer experience skills may carry over from the airline industry, but cautions that any president who can’t mollify MLSE’s fractious ownership — Rogers and Bell each own a 37.5 per cent stake — will struggle.
“Managing the board has been every CEO’s challenge,” says Cooper, president of the S&E Sponsorship Group.
“You still have the two telecoms who have different interests. Managing up is always going to be a challenge.”