Richard A. Peddie (born January 1947) is a Canadian businessman. He is the former president and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment.

Career

Peddie was president and CEO of

SkyDome Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it is home to ...

from August 1989 to 1994. In 1993, he took a leave of absence for six months to join Larry Tanenbaum's Palestra Group, which included

Labatt Labatt Brewing Company Limited () is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. In 2004, Interb ...

, in their pursuit of an expansion

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

team for Toronto, which was ultimately awarded to a competing group and became the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

. While employed by the SkyDome, he was twice offered the head job of the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

, who played at the SkyDome. Peddie was named the president and COO of Labatt Communications in 1994, a subsidiary of

Labatt Brewing Company Labatt Brewing Company Limited () is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. In 2004, Interb ...

whose assets included

The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by the Sports Network Inc., a subsidiary of CTV Specialty Television, which is also a joint venture of Bell Media (70%), also owned by BCE ...

and Discovery Channel Canada. During his time with Labatt's, which also owned the Argonauts and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, he was involved with attempts by the company to purchasing a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

team and relocate it to Toronto's SkyDome.

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment

Richard Peddie was named president and CEO of the Toronto Raptors in November 1996. After Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. (owner of the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

) purchased the

and the arena the team was building,

Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena (SBA), formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and t ...

, on February 12, 1998, Peddie took control of the renamed Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment in October 1998, serving as president and CEO for fourteen years until his retirement effective December 31, 2011. He oversaw all business and team operations related to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors,

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

, the

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies are owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

, the operations of the

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed on the former Exhibition Stadium site and first opened in 2007, it is the home field of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Toronto Ar ...

Ricoh Coliseum Coca-Cola Coliseum (also or formerly known as CNE Coliseum, Royal Coliseum, Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto Coliseum, or Coliseum) is an arena at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, used for agricultural displays, ice hockey, and trade shows. ...

, the organization's three television channels ( Leafs TV,

NBA TV Canada NBA TV Canada is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). It is the Canadian version of NBA TV, broadcasting programming focused on the National Basketball Association, and ...

, GolTV Canada) and Maple Leaf Square. In his first nine years in charge of MLSE, its value tripled to $1.5 billion. On December 9, 2011, shortly before Peddie retired, the

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board () is an independent organization responsible for administering defined benefit pension plan, defined-benefit pensions for school teachers of the provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of ...

announced the sale of its 79.53% majority stake in MLSE to

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the province ...

and

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...

, in a deal valued at $1.32 billion.

Post MLSE

Richard Peddie now owns and operates an independent book store called "River Bookshop" in the town of Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada.

Personal life

Born in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

, Peddie graduated from the

University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...

in 1970 and received an honorary doctorate from the institution in 2001. Peddie lives in Amherstburg with his wife.

References

External links

Toronto Raptors bioUniversity of Windsor profileWindsorWired.org profileSteady Peddie Keeps Toronto Ticking
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peddie, Richard 1947 births Canadian sports businesspeople Living people Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Businesspeople from Windsor, Ontario Toronto Maple Leafs executives Toronto Raptors executives University of Windsor alumni Canadian chief operating officers Canadian chief executives