Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) have hired former Toronto Argonauts president Keith Pelley as their new president and CEO, according to a report from TSN’s Rick Westhead.
MLSE is the parent company of the Argonauts, as well as the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, NBA’s Toronto Raptors and MLS’s Toronto FC. They also control minor league affiliates for all three of those organizations.
Pelley served as president and CEO of the Argonauts from 2003 until 2007. During his tenure with Toronto, the team won the 92nd Grey Cup after a 27-19 victory over the B.C. Lions. It was the Argonauts’ first championship in seven years.
Pelley got his start in sports media with TSN, beginning as an editorial assistant in 1986. He worked his way up to become an event producer for the CFL, curling, tennis and baseball. He then became president of TSN in 2001 following a stint with Fox.
Following his time with the Argos, the Etobicoke, Ont. native spearheaded Canada’s Olympic broadcast media consortium for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and was the executive vice president of strategic planning at the CTV Television Network. He later became the president of Rogers Media, where he successfully negotiated a 12 year, $5.2 billion contract with the NHL to give Rogers the Canadian broadcasting rights until 2026.
Since 2015, Pelley has served as commissioner and CEO of the PGA European Tour, also known as the DP World Tour, becoming one of the most powerful and influential executives in professional golf. He helped usher changes to the sport that he says has helped “modernize the sport”, boosting tournament attendance and TV ratings as well as bolstering revenue and player salaries.
Pelley has been a key figure in negotiations between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, a new pro tour backed by the Saudi government. A deal he helped broker between the three golf tours has been condemned due to Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and still faces scrutiny from the US Justice Department over anti-trust concerns.
MLSE is owned by Rogers Media (37.5 percent), Bell Media (37.5 percent), and Toronto sports executive Larry Tanenbaum (25 percent). The company has been without a president and CEO since Michael Friisdahl stepped down in 2022. Chief financial officer Cynthia Devine has been serving as acting CEO.
