AEG no longer for sale
Owners of Staples Center, L.A. Live and the Los Angeles Kings
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The planned sale of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns Staples Center, L.A. Live and the Los Angeles Kings and is the driving force behind plans to build an NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles, was halted today.
AEG Chairman Philip Anschutz, said he plans to take a more active role in the company, while Tim Leiweke, AEG’s president/CEO who has often been the local face of the company, will be leaving “by mutual agreement.”
“We appreciate the role Tim has played in the development of AEG, and thank him for the many contributions he has made to the company,” Anschutz said. “We wish him well in his new endeavors.”
Leiweke will be replaced by Dan Beckerman, the company’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer.
Anschutz said that from the beginning of the proposed sale process, which was announced in September, the company made it clear the transaction would not move forward unless the “right buyer” could be found.
“From the very first days of AEG, my vision has been to tie together world-class real estate development strucutred around entertainment venues with premium sports and live entertainment content,” he said. “In recent years we have developed related businesses to further promote and enhance the performance of AEG’s facilities for the benefit of our partners, including our sponsors, artists, consumers and the communities in which we operate.
“The company’s operations will continue to be run by AEG’s experienced senior executive team, most of whom have been with AEG for over a decade,” he said. “We will continue to set the standards in the industries in which AEG operates, bringing our unique vision and development model to entertainment
locations throughout the world.”
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The company that owns Staples Center and is the driving force behind an effort to build a professional football stadium in downtown Los Angeles announced today it is being put up for sale.
Anschutz Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of the Anschutz Co. owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, also owns the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings and Major League Soccer champion Los Angeles Galaxy and has a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers. It also owns the L.A. Live entertainment complex in downtown Los Angeles and the O2 arena in London.
There has been a buzz going through the city of Los Angeles, a perception that the National Football League is closer to returning here after the Rams and Raiders both bolted for sweeter land and stadium deals.
In the various discussions about the proposed stadium/event center that AEG, a subsidy development entity under the Anschutz Co., wants to construct in downtown Los Angeles, it is not enough to declare, “If you build it, they will come.”
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The president of Anschutz Entertainment Group told a City Council committee today that building a stadium for a NFL team would serve as a catalyst in redeveloping downtown Los Angeles and would not cost taxpayers a cent.
Tim Leiweke of AEG, the developer of Staples Center and L.A. Live, called the proposed project "a catalyst that will be probably the largest economic development in the history of downtown.''
A coalition of housing and environmental justice activists agreed to drop an active lawsuit and pending litigation against the state and city of Los Angeles over the proposed $1.2 billion Farmers Field NFL football stadium downtown.
The Play Fair at Farmers Field Coalition and Anschutz Entertainment Group came to an agreement over the group’s concerns that the developer and the city had not addressed potential negative effects of the project on the low-income neighborhoods of Pico Union, downtown and neighborhoods in South L.A.
At West Angeles Church of God in Christ a passionate Tim Leiweke took off his coat, threw it aside and tore into his subject.
Bishop Charles E. Blake, the pastor, sat on the front row in the church’s Crystal Room, and it’s possible he thought Leiweke had missed his calling.
The fire and the fervor were there, and so was a packed house of believers.
What had gotten the man of AEG so fired up? Was it football? Was it Farmers Field?
No, said Leiweke, president and chief executive of the entertainment conglomerate.
