PROMOTION—Staples Boss Will Run Sports Unit

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Tim Leiweke has been promoted to overseer of Philip Anschutz’s entire billion-dollar sports empire, which stretches from L.A. to Europe.

Already president of the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Kings hockey club and Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team, Leiweke now replaces Bob Sanderman, who retired, as the executive responsible for overall management of the Anschutz Corp. sports operation.

Leiweke inherited all of Sanderman’s various positions, which include being the National Hockey League Governor for the Kings, overseeing major and minor league U.S. hockey and soccer operations, as well as the company’s European sports holdings. In Europe, Anschutz owns an arena in London and five hockey teams throughout the continent.

Anschutz also owns a minority stake in the L.A. Lakers.

“My business card has about 10 logos on it,” Leiweke said. “Believe it or not, my life hasn’t changed that much. Most of my time is spent on the Staples Center master plan, the Kings, and the national sports center (the proposed $100-million tennis/soccer complex at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson).”

The Staples master plan calls for development of a 30-acre shopping, dining and theater area in addition to a 40-story hotel next to the Staples Center arena in downtown Los Angeles.

Leiweke is also overseeing the conversion of Staples Center for the upcoming Democratic National Convention, of which he is a co-chair.

“Most people in the sports world understand the unbelievable power Anschutz brings to the table because of his multiple holdings,” said L.A. sports consultant David Carter. “Tim Leiweke… has (become) as politically savvy a person as there is in this town, someone who is able to understand the landscape, explore opportunities and run with them. He’s been on a very, very fast track in L.A. the past two years.”

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