Leonard Asper is the president, CEO, and majority shareholder of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., a global media company that produces, distributes, and broadcasts content aimed at passionate communities. Anthem’s content is distributed globally across traditional cable, digital streaming, and social media platforms. The company produces over 500 hours of new content each year and continually adds to its 11,000-hour library of sports and movies.

Anthem, which has over 200 employees, is based in Toronto. Its distribution hub is in Liberty Village, and its corporate offices are in downtown Toronto. Anthem’s employees also work from New York, LA, and Nashville.

Please see link to Anthem corporate overview. 

Before founding Anthem, Asper worked in the media industry as a lawyer and ultimately CEO of CanWest Global Communications until it was sold to Shaw Media in 2010.

In addition to its Canadian operations, Canwest controlled and operated television and radio networks in several other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, South America, the Middle East, and outdoor advertising businesses in South Asia.

Asper was also co-founder of a private equity firm, has extensive commercial real estate experience, and regularly invests in private businesses outside or adjacent to the media industry. 

A graduate of Brandeis University (cum laude) and the University of Toronto Law School, Asper remains a member of the Ontario Bar and the Law Society of Upper Canada. He has an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Winnipeg.

Asper serves as co-Chair of the Board of Advisors of the Brandeis University International Business School, where he founded the Asper School for Global Entrepreneurship. He is also on the Brandeis Board of Fellows and was awarded the Dean’s medal from Brandeis International Business School.

Asper also serves as a trustee of the Asper Foundation, the founder of the Joshua Foundation, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Saul and Claribel Simkin Center, a seniors’ housing complex in Winnipeg, Canada. 

Asper has been recognized as one of the top 100 “Power Players” in the U.S. Cable, Broadband & Media Industry from 2020-2024. He was included in Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, and he was named CEO of the year by Playback Magazine,  a Canadian media industry publication. 

Asper has been an athlete and avid sports enthusiast for his entire life. At age 10 he played midfield for the Winnipeg soccer team that went to the Canadian National Championships. In high school, Asper was a ranked tennis player in Manitoba, played in the hockey city championships, played football for Kelvin High School, where he also ran cross country, qualifying for the provincial championships in the 1500 meter category.

In University, Asper captained the Brandeis hockey team while also playing for the varsity tennis team. 

Leonard never stopped playing sports. 

After law school, Asper continued to play competitive tennis in Manitoba and Ontario while also competing in water skiing. He won a Bronze Medal in his men’s category at the 2016 Canadian Waterski Championships. He has also won two silver medals at the Maccabi Games hockey tournament in Israel and completed the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon in under four hours at age 48.

Asper’s basketball career is less illustrious. He was among the last cuts at the Kelvin High School varsity team tryouts. He became a fan of the Winnipeg Thunder, a team from a previous Canadian basketball league, and he fondly remembers the intimacy of the games in the Winnipeg arena.

Asper then resorted to becoming a diehard Syracuse Orange fan, although never recovering from the Keith Smart debacle in 1987 or the early departure of ‘Melo.

Asper can hold his own in HORSE, however.

Fortunately, the Raptors' championship run and Anthem’s growth led to his reconnection to basketball. Two shareholders of Anthem, Mark Cuban and AEG, brought him to games in their cities. After Anthem’s Game+ started broadcasting the CEBL, Asper realized Canada had finally assembled a first-class league and decided to acquire the Brampton Honey Badgers.

At Anthem, Asper oversees sports promotions like TNA Wrestling and Invicta Fighting Championships and has considered acquiring numerous sports teams and leagues over the years. He is a careful investor and understands that a local presence is essential, so he finally decided that, based on the league's quality, the fellow owners, the popularity of basketball, and the dynamic, growing city of Brampton, the Honey Badgers would be his foray into team ownership.

Asper has supported the Canadian Olympic Foundation, Tennis Canada, and numerous youth sports organizations. Anthem is a significant supporter of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, which performs essential research in this area, and also supports Winnipeg’s Pan Am Clinic, one of North America's most advanced concussion recovery institutes. He does this because he believes that since society benefits from the risks others take to entertain them, we should care for athletes who suffer injuries on the court or field of play. Sports is a holistic endeavor, not a one-way street.