Montreal Alouettes owner Pierre Karl Péladeau has hired Mark Weightman as president and CEO of the team. He will start his new role on April 11.
Weightman will bring stability to the organization while ensuring its long-term future, development and outreach. He will work to strengthen the relationship with season ticket holders and fans across Quebec. The Concordia and UQAM graduate will also continue to develop the customer experience and try to grow the presence of the team and players in the community.
“We are convinced that he will be able to meet the challenges facing us, with the collaboration of all the Montreal Alouettes’ employees. Mark and I share the same vision for the long-term future of the team both in terms of its day-to-day management, its return to financial health and our desire to grow our group of core supporters at the stadium and in Quebec,” Péladeau said in a statement.
“These are conditions that will allow us to put Montreal back at the top of Canadian football. I would like to thank the other strong candidates we met during the process. I would also like to thank Mario Cecchini for his work as president of the club over the past three years. He did his job under difficult circumstances.”
Weightman has over 28 years of experience in professional sports. The Saint-André-d’Argenteuil native has led and collaborated with several major professional sports organizations, such as the Als, where he held various positions from 1996 to 2016, including president and CEO from 2013 to 2016 plus president of the Alouettes Foundation from 2015 to 2016.
“It is a real privilege for me to be reunited with the Montreal Alouettes, a team I love, know and have always followed. I would like to thank Mr. Péladeau for the trust he has placed in me. Our team has a rich history to develop and promote,” Weightman said in a statement.
“I will work on this enthusiastically with all the colleagues who are already at work, whether they are in our offices or dedicated to football operations under the guidance of our general manager, Danny Maciocia. There’s a lot of work to do before the regular season kicks off, like the draft and training camp, but we all look forward to introducing you to your 2023 Alouettes.”
Weightman was also a key figure in the launch of a new ECHL professional hockey team in Trois-Rivières, which he has been running since 2020. He has helped create a new professional basketball team in the CEBL, the Montreal Alliance. He worked with the Laval Rocket organization and restructured a first-division professional hockey team in Switzerland (National League) and a professional hockey team in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in Sweden.
