Tim Leiweke has decided making loads of cash while being CEO of MLSE wasn’t good enough, so he figured he’d see what David Beckham, husband of Posh Spice, has to offer.
As per the report, Leiweke and Beckham plan to run things in Miami:
Leiweke brings 30 years of experience and sports business credibility to Beckham’s project. He was instrumental in bringing Beckham to play for the Galaxy, and remains close to the British soccer icon. Miami Beckham United spokesman Tadd Schwartz wouldn’t confirm Leiweke’s involvement, but sources said Leiweke has been meeting with Miami-Dade politicians over the past several weeks to accelerate the deal.
Beckham’s group, which also includes Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, is negotiating with the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County to build a stadium adjacent to Marlins Park. They have made significant progress since Leiweke joined the talks, and hope to have an agreement reached before Christmas, according to one source.
When initially hired, Leiweke fired Bryan Colangelo (huge positive) and then hired Masai Ujiri (another win), and that set the wheels in motion in the Raptors turnaround. The rest, they say, is history. Well, usually you say “the rest is history” when something amazing happens, but in this case something mediocre happened but that’s still better than what preceded Ujiri. MLSE will now be run by Jon Cassaday.
RR has nothing but gratitude towards Leiweke whose hiring was a positive turning point in the franchise. The Raptors franchise was a mess under Richard Peddie’s leadership (in terms of on-court product, financially they were always OK), and Leiweke helped fix that.
There were presumably a couple reasons for him leaving. Apparently he didn’t like the cold weather much, and there was an element of boredom settling in now that he had made his major moves with all three franchises. The most disappointing aspect for Leiweke had to have been Toronto FC, where he splurged money on has-been players and had nothing to show for it. This year, however, TFC finally clinched their first playoff spot in franchise history, so he leaves on somewhat of a high. As for the Leafs, nobody here really cares and I’m sure Leiweke didn’t either.
Good luck in Miami. Not the first time someone’s left us for that city. Note to Raptors fans: please don’t boo him on his return.
