Irving Azoff, Tim Leiweke Launch New Joint Venture

LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Former AEG President and Chief Executive Officer of AEG Tim Leiweke and Azoff MSG Entertainment have announced the formation of a new joint venture, the Oak View Group, which they bill as a global advisory, development and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industry.

Based in Los Angeles, the company will serve as a consortium designed to serve a select group of that do not otherwise require venue management services, providing its members with access to content acquisition and sponsorship deals.

Leiweke, OVG's Founder, will serve as the company's CEO and Irving Azoff will join the company as a board member. The company's client list already includes the Prudential Center, Philips Arena, Madison Square Garden (MSG), the Forum, and Tampa Bay's Amalie Arena.

The new venture will also offer consulting services, including advising sports teams, venue owners and entertainment and media properties on new stadium builds and renovations, naming rights and sales and revenue generation. OVG will be continuing to assist MLSE in their transition and with preparation for both the NBA All-Star Game and World Cup of Hockey.

In addition to Mssrs. Leiweke and Azoff, the company has also hired Dan Griffis as its Executive Vice President to serve as the President of the sponsorship and partnership company, which will operate under the name, Narrative.

Griffis, a marketing and sponsorship executive, recently left Target Corporation where we was Vice President of Marketing and an officer of the company. Griffis worked tirelessly over the past five years to help guests to "expect more" from Target brand.

Other hires for OVG include sales veterans Francesca Bodie, Jason Gonella and Andrew Feinberg.

"Having worked with Irving for decades, we realized there was an opportunity to do something transformative in our business," said Leiweke. "At the very heart of what we're doing is a deep passion for giving the fans of sports, music and live events the very best experience possible – and we're doing that by empowering arena and stadium owners with the resources and a level of strategic thinking never before accessible. We will create a business model that is designed to disrupt the normal course of business and one that will Buy, Sell, Book and Think together. "

"Tim has a skillset and strategic approach that's unrivaled, and under his leadership we are very confident that Oak View will quickly become a powerful and positive disruptive force in our business," added Irving Azoff, Chairman and CEO of Azoff/MSG Entertainment.

Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation, says, "Both Tim and Irving are friends of Live Nation as well as personal friends. The concept of creating an economic model for both arenas and touring artists that creates new revenue streams and develops an "anchor" type of platform for music is one we share and are very interested to explore with them and their partners." – Staff Writers