By Blair Cardinal
Oak View Group launched OVG Canada, a new division focused on the Canadian sports and entertainment industry and offering strategic services in the areas of venue development and management, booking and content development, sponsorship brand consulting, and third-party partnership sales.
The formation of OVG Canada follows the October 2021 announcement that the company would be 
taking on its first development project north of the border: the redevelopment of the Hamilton, Ontario Arts & Entertainment District and FirstOntario Centre Arena.
Tom Pistore, President of OVG Canada, and his recently formed team of industry veterans – including Senior Vice President of Partnerships & Brand Consulting Josh Epstein and Senior Vice President of Partnerships & Revenue Zach Feldman will draw on their years of sports and entertainment experience working with global brands and properties to offer the Canadian marketplace results-driven counsel and service.
Pistore has more than 25 years working across major professional sports leagues, most recently as President of UBS Arena (home of the NHL’s New York Islanders) and, prior to that, was a member of the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) executive leadership team. Epstein joins OVG Canada from Bank of Montreal where he was responsible for leading their North American sponsorship strategy. Feldman was most recently the SVP of Partnerships & Revenue at the Premier Lacrosse League, where he helped drive triple digit revenue growth while leading the development of ground-breaking marketing partnerships.
“During my time running MLSE, I realized that the Canadian sports and facility marketplace is uniquely driven by the Canadian consumer and Canadian companies. You cannot develop, operate, or sell Canadian facilities or assets from the U.S., and therefore it’s critical for us to be a part of Canada.” Tim Leiweke, Chairman & CEO of Oak View Group and former President & CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), said, “With Tom Pistore leading the charge of our OVG Canada group, we want to create the best sports and facility sales organization in Canada. Very few companies in our industry have the infrastructure that we have now in Canada and the U.S. to serve our Canadian clients, giving OVG the competitive edge to deliver best in class results.”
“Oak View Group Canada will leverage our diverse experience, deep understanding of the Canadian marketplace, and the strength of our global leadership team to provide industry-leading solutions and opportunities to the Canadian market,” Pistore said. “After an exciting journey launching UBS Arena in New York, I could not be more excited to launch OVG Canada alongside a best-in-class leadership team that will deliver incredible results for our present and future partners.”
In addition to Leiweke, OVG Canada will be supported by a noteworthy executive team, including entertainment industry legend and OVG co-founder Irving Azoff, renowned sports executive and co-chairman of OVG360 Peter Luukko, president of OVG business development Francesca Bodie, and Chris Granger, president of OVG360 and OVG’s Arena Alliance, who also oversees all venue and hospitality operations in Canada.
“We are committed to putting capital to work in Canadian live entertainment facilities as we’ve done elsewhere around the world and are thrilled for our project in Hamilton to come to life,” Bodie said. “We look forward to expanding and growing the OVG platform with additional owned-and-operated facilities across Canada.”
Blair Cardinal is Vice President, Communications at Oak View Group.
