After half a year at the helm of Canada's "most powerful sports empire," MLSE President & CEO MICHAEL FRIISDAHL "has stayed cloaked in deliberate anonymity while building his Rolodex by visiting one corporate box at a time," according to a profile by James Bradshaw of the GLOBE & MAIL. Friisdahl has "deep executive leadership experience in the airline and travel industries, but virtually no pedigree in sports." Friisdahl "views the public spotlight with trepidation." He "intends to assemble his strategy discreetly from inside" MLSE’s HQ, "giving teams the resources and leeway to run themselves, and pumping the company’s vast resources into technology and research to help cultivate more devoted fans." Friisdahl: "The teams are really the stars here. It’s not me, it’s not MLSE. I’m a support cast member here." Bradshaw notes choosing the Danish-born father of three for the job "signalled a calculated, 180-degree turn from the boisterous and brash tenure of his predecessor, TIM LEIWEKE." Friisdahl "speaks fluently in the language of strategic objectives and executing on key priorities." That may make him "ideally suited to navigate an ownership and board structure that many suggest is destined to breed friction," with execs from rival communications giants BCE and Rogers Communications "wedged on either side of independent voices" like MLSE Chair LARRY TANENBAUM and BOD member DALE LASTMAN. Friisdahl "has turned his attention to customer service." He said he is “absolutely 100-per-cent focused” on the fan experience (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/10).
CHANGE IN PHILOSOPHY: In Toronto, Sean Fitz-Gerald notes neither Leiweke nor RICHARD PEDDIE, MLSE’s longest-serving CEO, "delivered a parade-worthy team to fans, but both had successes off the field." Peddie took the Maple Leafs, Raptors and the Air Canada Centre and "built a monolith with broadcast, real estate and restaurant holdings." Leiweke "oversaw the expansion of BMO Field." He also "installed new leadership with the Leafs and the Raptors." But Friisdahl "appears to have a different mandate from ownership." His "does not seem to be a quest to expand abroad as much as it is maximizing from within" (TORONTO STAR, 6/10).
STAYING UNDER THE RADAR: Friisdahl said that he "plans to maintain a relatively low public profile." TSN.ca's Rick Westhead noted Friisdahl "doesn’t have a presence on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and encourages" the likes of Maple Leafs President BRENDAN SHANAHAN, Raptors President & GM MASAI UJIRI and Toronto FC President BILL MANNING "to be the public faces of MLSE’s teams." Meanwhile, Friisdahl said that for now, MLSE "remains opposed to a second NHL team in Canada’s largest media market." He said, "The status quo is absolutely fine the way it is. We’re very satisfied the way the league is structured from a Canadian perspective" (TSN.ca, 6/9).
