Leiweke, Sakiewicz trade blows on Toronto FC offseason

Jan 13, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; President and CEO of MLSE Tim Leiweke during a press conference to introduce newest players Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley (not pictured) at Real Sports Bar and Grill. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

There seems to be some bad blood between Philadelphia Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment boss Tim Leiweke. An interview with Sakiewicz by Philly Soccer Page argues that Toronto FC’s bank breaking moves were pretty unnecessary and intimidating even.

“I get frustrated when I see people say how smart Toronto is spending $90 million,” Sakiewicz told Dan Walsh. “I’m not sure how smart that is.

“I get frustrated when I see Tim Leiweke breaking the bank up there. If we had spent that, we’d be mortgaging the team for 20 years. We have to do things different than the Los Angeles Galaxies, Torontos, and Red Bulls of the world.”

However, Leiweke fired back in full to the Toronto Sun’s Kurtis Larson, since Sakiewicz was his former employee.

“I’m sure there are others who are mumbling underneath their breath, but this one was a little bit more than that,” Leiweke told Larson on Friday. “Questioning Bradley is great. Good. Do more of it. One thing I know about Michael is the more people question him … all they do is get him more committed, more passionate, more aggressive.

“Everyone has their own marketplace. On ours, we’ve sold 17,000 tickets in three weeks. We’re going to have a packed stadium every game this year. Our ratings are going to be great. Our merch sells are going to be great.

“In our world, with our fans, with the commitment they’ve made the last seven years, we owed them this. This is about our business and our relationship with our marketplace. We knew people were going to shoot at us. The shooting has begun.

“I think it’s good people are shooting at us,” Leiweke said. “I think it’s good when clubs have the kind of roster we’re going to have here. We expected this. I think it is a sign of maturity within the league. At the same time, we know what we’re doing here.

“We know where we’re headed.”