Arthur Griffiths (businessman)
Arthur R. Griffiths (born 1957) is a Canadian businessman and community leader. He used to own the Vancouver Canucks (a hockey team), the Vancouver Grizzlies (a basketball team), and the arena where they played. He helped bring the 2010 Winter Olympics to Vancouver and later ran for office in British Columbia.
Griffiths is the son of Emily and Frank Griffiths. He began working with the Canucks in 1981. In 1988, he took full control of the team from his father and helped build a new arena, now called Rogers Arena, because the old one was too small. His father passed away in 1994.
In 1995, he helped start the Vancouver Grizzlies basketball team. The team later moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Griffiths sold both the Canucks and the Grizzlies by 1997. He also worked with a Russian sportswear company at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
In 1998, Griffiths was asked to help lead Vancouver's bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics. With his leadership, the bid won in 2003 and the Games were awarded to Vancouver and Whistler.
In 1991, while leading the Canucks’ community work, he supported an idea to create a children’s hospice. This became Canuck Place, the first free-standing hospice for children in North America. It supports children with serious illnesses and their families.
Griffiths tried to enter politics in 2008. He ran as a BC Liberal Party candidate in a special election but lost to Spencer Chandra Herbert of the New Democratic Party.
He studied at BCIT, graduating in 1980. He is married and lives in Vancouver.[source?]