Keith Pelley, chief executive of golf’s European Tour Group, will leave to become president and chief executive of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) in April, the organizations announced on Thursday.
Pelley returns to his hometown on April 2 to oversee MLSE’s lineup of sports teams, including the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto FC of MLS and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.
After a stint as president of the Argonauts, including their 2004 Grey Cup championship season, Pelley was president of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic broadcast media consortium and in 2010 became president of Rogers Media, which he departed in 2015 to become commissioner of the PGA European Tour.
“It has been an incredible honour to be the chief executive of this wonderful institution for the past 8 1/2 years,” Pelley said.
“When I came over from Canada back in 2015, I set out to create a culture of innovation and to grow our prize funds and our tour for our members by ensuring that we appealed to new, younger and more diverse audiences.
“We’ve done that and so much more because our players, staff, partners, broadcasters and fans have all fundamentally bought into that philosophy that we are in the entertainment industry.”
Returning to Canada was what Pelley called “the one opportunity that I simply could not resist. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do at some point in my career and I’m very grateful to be given that chance.”
Guy Kinnings, the group’s current deputy chief executive, will replace Pelley as European Tour Group chief executive on April 2.
“I’m also fortunate to be able to pass the baton on to someone immensely experienced and respected in Guy, who I have no doubt will ensure the tour continues to prosper for many years to come,” Pelley said.
Pelley oversaw the transition into the DP World Tour, guided the tour through the Covid pandemic and staged the two most successful Ryder Cups on European soil in Paris in 2018 and Rome last year.
“Keith has been a truly transformative leader, both for our tour and for global golf,” said European Tour Group chairman Eric Nicoli. “So many of the changes we continue to see in the game today are either directly or indirectly because of his commitment to innovation and growth.”
