Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd.
(MLSE) is the owner and
operator of the Toronto Maple
Leafs National Hockey
League team, Toronto Raptors
National Basketball
Association team, Toronto FC Major League Soccer team, and Toronto Marlies American Hockey League team—all based
in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
.
In
addition to owning these franchises as well as Leafs TV, Raptors NBA
TV (the official television channels of the Maple Leafs and
Raptors respectively), and GolTV
Canada, MLSE is also involved in property management, including ownership
of the Air Canada
Centre
, the home arena of the Maple Leafs and
Raptors.
History
The corporation's roots were established in 1927, after
Conn Smythe purchased Toronto's premier hockey
franchise that had earned
Stanley Cup
championships in
1918 (as
the
Toronto Arenas) and
1922 (as the
Toronto St. Pats), and renamed it the
Maple Leafs. In 1931, a corporate reorganization resulted in the
formation of
Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. (MLGL), with
the Maple Leafs hockey team as the leading subsidiary.
Supermarket tycoon
Steve Stavro led a
group to buy the Maple Leafs from the estate of the late
Harold Ballard in 1991. Larry Tanenbaum
became a partner in 1996 with a 25% stake in MLGL. MLGL purchased
the Toronto Raptors and Air Canada Centre in 1998, at which time
the company adopted its present name. Stavro sold his stake to
CTVglobemedia in 2003, and the
Ontario Teachers' Pension
Plan assumed controlling interest based on equity under the new
ownership structure, with Tanenbaum taking over as non-executive
chairman. On December 5, 2008, CTVglobemedia sold half of its 15%
stake to Tanenbaum, making Tanenbaum the second-largest
stakeholder. Each owner of MLSE has first right of refusal on any
shares sold.
In April 2008, MLSE was reported to be worth $1.75 billion
USD, according to a valuation
commissioned by the company and cited by the
Toronto Star. In addition, the
Toronto
Star reported that MLSE was considering the purchase of an
English Premier League soccer
team.
It was announced on January 23, 2009, that MLSE will acquire
Insight Sports' interest in
GolTV, a
Canadian digital cable channel devoted to soccer.
On August 20, 2009, Teachers' announced that it agreed to purchase
the remaining 7.7% stake in MLSE owned by CTVglobemedia. The
transaction is pending league approval.
Ownership
As of 2009:
On November 1, 2009, TD Bank spun off its private equity arm (TD
Private Capital) to the managers of the fund. The firm is now
called Northleaf Capital Partners which will assume the 13.5% stake
owned by its predecessor TD Private Capital.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. Board of
Directors:
- Larry Tanenbaum – Kilmer Sports
(non-executive chairman of the board)
- Richard Peddie – President and
CEO
- Robert Bertram – Senior Advisor, Ontario Teachers' Pension
Plan
- Erol Uzumeri – Teachers' Private Capital
- Glen Silvestri – Teachers' Private Capital
- Robert MacLellan – Northleaf Capital Partners
- Dale Lastman – Goodmans LLP
Assets
- Toronto Maple Leafs
professional hockey team (2009 value: $470 million USD (1st in the
NHL))
- Toronto Raptors professional
basketball team (2008 value: $400 million USD (11th in the
NBA))
- Toronto FC Major League Soccer team (2008 value:
$44 million USD (2nd in MLS))
- Toronto Marlies American Hockey League team
- TFC Academy Canadian Soccer League team
- Air Canada Centre, a multi-purpose arena in downtown Toronto, Canada
($265 million CAD)
- Leafs TV (Toronto Maple Leafs 24 hour
specialty channel: the only channel in North America dedicated to
one sports team.) and Leafs TV HD (an HD simulcast of Leafs
TV)
- Raptors NBA TV (Toronto Raptors
basketball specialty channel) and Raptors NBA TV HD (an HD
simulcast of Raptors NBA TV)
- GolTV Canada (80.1%) (Specialty
soccer channel)
- Maple Leaf Square
, a residential and commercial real estate
development (to be completed by 2010)
- Note that the valuations done by Forbes
are not based on actual numbers provided by MLSE. In 2003, MLSE was
internally valued at over $1 billion CAD by the Ontario Teachers'
Pension Plan in its annual report. The December 2008 sale of 7.5%
of the company to Larry Tanenbaum for $90 million values the
company at $1.2 billion.
Sports facility management
Former facilities
Upcoming project
Maple Leaf Square
In April
2005, MLSE announced that they would be working with Cadillac Fairview (wholly owned subsidiary
of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan) and Lanterra Developments to
build Maple Leaf
Square, a major entertainment complex situated next to the
Air Canada Centre in Downtown Toronto
. The $500 million CAD complex will be a
mixed use facility including office space, residential condo towers
and of retail and dining space. It is expected to be completed by
2010.
See also
References
- Vardi, Nathan. Winning Isn't Everything [154281], Forbes, 2007-11-16.
External links
- http://www.mapleleafsports.com (dead link)
- http://www.theaircanadacentre.com/
, home of Toronto FC
(MLS), the Canadian men's national
soccer team (CONCACAF) and the Toronto Nationals (MLL).
, home of the Toronto
Marlies (AHL).
, home of the Oshawa
Generals (2006–2008)
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