John Elroy McCaw, Jr., is a Seattle, WA, based businessman who made his fortune in cellular business. In 1994, he and his three brothers sold their company, McCaw Cellular, to AT&T Corporation for $11.5 billion. He became involved in hockey through Vancouver Canucks' owner Arthur Griffiths.

McCaw partnered with Griffiths in a joint venture involving a Vancouver, BC, based NBA expansion franchise that became known as the Vancouver Grizzlies. At the time, the construction of the new arena, the 1994-95 NHL lockout and the $125 million NBA expansion fee had burdened Griffiths to an extent that saw him consider his options. In March 1995 Griffiths and McCaw formed the Northwest Entertainment Group (NEG) that consolidated the Canucks, the Grizzlies and the General Motors Place, a move that saw McCaw become the majority owner of NEG. The holding company was renamed Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment in August 1995. The Griffiths family, Emily and John, sold their minority stakes in the company to McCaw in 1996.

Having lost tens of millions operating the and the Grizzlies by 1999-00, it was reported that McCaw put the company for sale in August 1999. A month later, in September 1999, Bill Laurie, the owner of the St. Louis Blues attempted to acquire the Grizzlies for $148 million and a further $52 million relocation bonus. However, the deal was not concluded. The Grizzlies was subsequently sold to Michael Heisley who went on to move the franchise to Memphis. McCaw sold the rest of the company, including the Vancouver Canucks, to the Aquilini Investment Group in two stages.