Maple Leaf Sports Company Essay

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INTRODUCTION The Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment company (MLSE) was founded in 1998 when the Toronto Maple Leafs merged with the newest NBA team at the time, the Toronto Raptors. This amounted to one of the best motivators for Toronto pride and was one of the most beneficial merges for the city. Since their start in 1927, the Maple Leafs have been able to fill arena seats and hold onto their fans’ loyalty. They clinched five Stanley Cups in the 1940s and were able to win 4 more cups throughout the 50s and 60s. Despite a three decade drought that followed, their loyal fan base kept supporting them. However, the Maple Leaf Sports company is much more than players on the ice, the Stanley Cup wins and losses, and the fan base; the team has …show more content…

The Ballard Family Holding held a majority advantage in Maple Leaf Gardens Limited for two decades until Ballard was served jail time for defrauding the company. In the interim, Ballard’s son Bill took his place until he was released. Bill decided to focus on concert promotion in the venue while the Leafs kept declining in NHL standings. Once Ballard was back in control he continued to gain more control over the company but ran into several complications with loans which ultimately reduced his estate holding when he died in 1990. Nevertheless Ballard owned 80 percent of MLG. The estate was put into the hands of Donald Crump, Steve Stavro and Donald Giffin. This naturally led to a war between the three over who would gain the most control. Stavro was ultimately victorious by claiming 60.3 per cent of the company. After Stavro took over as chair and CEO of MLG in 1991, he put two million dollars into the arena, doubled the annual salary budget, and allowed the team a chance to actually win. “Under Stavro, revenue for the club increased from $37.5 million in 1991 to $56.2 million in 1993” (Funding Universe, 2004). However, the increase in players’ …show more content…

The company needed to start promoting more, having more events and venture into the world of broadcasting. In 1996, Stavro brought in Larry Tenenbaum, an investor, to invest 21 million dollars for a 25% share in the company (Funding Universe, 2004). In 1998, the company spent 600 million dollars to acquire the Toronto Raptors, build the Air Canada Centre (ACC) which would house both teams and have luxury suites and pay the Leaf’s salaries and management (Funding Universe, 2004). Richard Peddie, former University of Windsor Odette School of Business Graduate, was then named CEO and President of Operations as well as continuing on as President for the Raptors (Funding Universe, 2004). Peddie used his expertise to re-vamp various websites and obtain licenses to run a pair of TV specialty stations for both teams. He also created a deal where corporate sponsors must invest in both the Leafs and the Raptors rather than just the Leafs. During this time, ticket sales matched player’s salaries one-to-one for both teams, so profits were made in the form of advertising sponsorships, corporate sponsorships, broadcasting rights, merchandising, concessions and event

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