Former MLSE President & CEO RICHARD PEDDIE has kept busy since beginning what he calls an “active retirement” in late ’11. In addition to writing a book, “DREAM JOB,” about his experience running Canada’s largest sports enterprise, Peddie has become involved with several new business ventures. Most recently, Peddie joined second-screen company OneUp Sports, which has deals with the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB for its "Connect" platform, as an advisor to CEO DAREN TROUSDELL. He has also maintained a close eye on MLSE, the Toronto sports market and the search for his second replacement in almost as many years. Peddie recently sat down to discuss his latest endeavor, as well as the market he helped shape throughout his career.
Q: How well-versed were you with second-screen technology prior to getting involved with OneUp?
Peddie: Once I got out of the business, I wasn’t watching that closely. I read voraciously, but I really wasn’t viewing as a user anymore. I wasn’t up to date on it, but my due diligence, his lineup of all those sports leagues is mind-blowing to me. I said, "So, how did you do that? What did you pay them?" I knew how tough it was and how expensive it was to get deals with the NHL, the NBA, let alone Major League Baseball and the NFL. So when I read that and went on his website, and then I talked to the guys at Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, who use them both on Leafs and Raptors, and they raved about what the quality of the product. I quickly became a believer.
Q: What sort of value does OneUp offer sports properties?
Peddie: Today, with ticket prices going up and the attention span of young viewers, anything you can do to improve the engagement, whether you’re sitting in your den or sitting in a seat in the arena, I think that’s good. If I was there right now, the guys would’ve brought it to me, and I would’ve grasped it and said, "Let’s go." You walk into the arena and they automatically know that you’re on the Raptors Connect, that you’re in the building, and they can start sending you messages and you can start engaging with them. I think what OneUp does with MLSE will find its way to a lot of other teams and leagues.
Q: How have your connections helped OneUp?
Peddie: The moment that I put out my press release, (MLS Commissioner) DON GARBER said, "Come down and see me." (NHL COO) JOHN COLLINS said, "Love to talk to you. I’m in town next week. Can we get together?" At some point, I’ll phone MIKE RAPINO at Live Nation because I think this can work with Live Nation, as well. I think I can make Daren a lot of introductions, help him strategically, help him as a leader, help him deliver value. We’ll see. I’m just starting.
Q: How has the BMO Field expansion project evolved since your departure from MLSE?
Peddie: They are spending more money than I imagined. I imagined going to 30,000 seats, which I understand they are. The building was really good whenever we launched it seven or eight years ago, but today with what the Red Bulls have done and Kansas City has done, it’s being left behind. So they’ve got to spend that money, it’s just more money than I thought when I left three years ago, but I don’t argue with what they’re doing.
Q: Does expanding BMO Field make it a candidate for large events other than MLS games?
Peddie: I sure wouldn’t (expand) it for those reasons. I tried to get a Winter Classic there before, and it was too small. Does 30,000 make it that much more attractive? They’ve done the University of Michigan thing and set a record for, what, 120,000 people or whatever. I don’t think big is necessarily better now for the NHL. I think they want a great experience. And where that is, with all of the area around it, all of the ancillary things you can do around it, makes it very attractive. ... You’re not seeing very many concerts at any of the MLS facilities. It’s just too expensive. There’s an outdoor facility not far from it. I don’t think you’re really going to look for that type of event. We studied the second-division teams in England, and if you look, that 30,000 seats is about perfect for TFC. The fans in Toronto are very football literate. Their IQ on football is very high here. Many of them came from countries that played football, so the fans are here. Now what they’ve got to do is have a winner.
Q: Can MLS maintain its single-entity structure with another CBA negotiation coming up?
Peddie: They need those financial safeguards. I know recently either (MLS President & Deputy Commissioner MARK ABBOTT) or Don came up and said, "Not all the teams are making money. The league’s not making money." I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s true, I bet that’s true. Because they weren’t making money when I left, and even though revenue’s gone up, so has spending. I’d like to think single-entity will continue. It was smart. It was one of the reasons why I recommended it to the board, as one of the pluses. I think they need it. You know how many leagues have come and gone.
Q: Were you surprised by TIM LEIWEKE’s short tenure at MLSE as your successor?
Peddie: I’ve known Tim for a long time, and I thought it was a real coup that they were able to get him. … But to go from L.A. where he’s so well known to an area where he would have less autonomy, he seemed to have a lot of it with (AEG Chair PHIL ANSCHUTZ), and not knowing the market, and him and his wife come in the coldest winter we’ve had in decades. There were signs. Was it really a long-term fit with them? Possibly not, and apparently not.
Q: After Leiweke’s quick departure, should MLSE hire a Canadian as its next CEO?
Peddie: You’ve got people sitting in CEO seats all over the world, not from the countries where the company is. But my preference, I think it would be nice to have a Canadian run MLSE. Hopefully that’s one of the things the owners consider when they replace Tim.
Q: What is the future of the SkyDome?
Peddie: Today, it’s a baseball stadium, and an imperfect baseball stadium. We know that (Blue Jays President & CEO PAUL BEESTON) wants to put grass in. There’s still a big issue that the players don’t want to play on turf. ... Not in Ontario is the government going to build them a new stadium. This is not Minnesota, this is not a whole bunch of places that are still building stadiums and arenas for teams. Not at all. What’s a stadium going to cost? $600-700M? They’ve got to make it the best it can be. I guess Paul’s trying to do that by putting grass in, and they’ve spent money on it. But it’s a baseball stadium, and it’s not even going to be a football stadium because, allegedly, the Argos are going to go when the grass comes in.
Q: What is the appetite in Toronto for government-funded facility projects?
Peddie: Of the billion dollars that we spent under my watch, only something like $55M of it, a little over 5%, came from the government. And that was building BMO Field. That was built for (around) $60M, and federal, city and provincial put in all but 30% or 32% or 28%, 30% or so. That was our only money. The interesting thing though is we did a deal with the city, the city put in $10M. The city still owns the land. ... We did a deal that when we make money at BMO Field, 50% will go to the city. In the time it’s been open, the city’s already got $3M back of their investment.
Q: Would MLSE consider bringing the CFL Argonauts to BMO Field?
Peddie: You’ve got an asset there in TFC that’s well over $100M now and an Argo team that is worth about $5M. The price hasn’t changed in 20 years. Do you really risk a $100M+ franchise to bring in a football team? I don’t know. I recommended against it myself, but there’s new owners and new leaders, and they’ll do what they think is right. But myself, I think it’s a mistake.
Q: What does the future hold for the Argonauts?
Peddie: It’s a tier-2 product in this city. I saw a lot of great Argo games when I was running SkyDome. (CFL) is huge in Saskatchewan and in Calgary and Edmonton and Montreal and probably will be again in Ottawa and in the new stadium in Hamilton. But there’s too much competition for it in Toronto. There are these hundreds of thousands of people watching it on television. Well that’s great, but none of them are going to the games. They’ve got a new good broadcast deal, I think it’s around $35M. But divide that by the number of teams in the CFL, it’s not a lot of money. They’re a gate-driven league, and there are very few people coming. Would a single-purpose 23,000-seater with field turf work for the Argos? Absolutely, I think it would be a big help. I’m not sure it would make them successful, but it would make them more successful. But even that stadium is going to cost $100M, bare bones. Maybe more than that. Who’s going to pay for that? Who’s going to buy the Argos and build that stadium? I don’t know.
See this week's SportsBusiness Journal for a column by OneUp Sports CEO Daren Trousdell about how sports properties can better engage fans via mobile.
