Keith Pelley has resigned as CEO of the DP World Tour to lead powerhouse Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the European tour announced Thursday.
Pelley, who was president of Rogers Media before leaving in 2015 to lead European golf, will oversee one of North America's largest sports and entertainment groups. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has assets in four of the six major sports leagues on the continent, with primary holdings of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors.
"This role with MLSE, and the chance to be involved with my hometown sports teams in Toronto, was the one opportunity that I simply could not resist," Pelley said Thursday, his 60th birthday. "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."
The move comes at a critical time in golf. The European tour is part of the June 6 agreement with the PGA Tour and the Saudi backers of LIV Golf to form a commercial company that could reshape how golf is run.
The deadline to finalize the deal was Dec. 31, although all sides have continued negotiations.
Pelley negotiated a $5 billion rights contract to the NHL for Rogers Media before leaving in 2015 to take over the European tour. He brought creativity, beyond his blue-framed glasses, to a tour that didn't have nearly the resources of the PGA Tour.
He struck a deal with Dubai-based DP World in 2021 to rename the circuit to the DP World Tour. He introduced one tournament using a shot clock, another involving six-hole competitions. Neither stuck, but there was a willingness to try to modernize golf.
Pelley also chose to align the European tour with the PGA Tour in a strategic alliance that now includes co-sanctioned events for both members, the Scottish Open in the United Kingdom and two tournaments on the PGA Tour held opposite stronger events.
Ten leading players from the European tour's Race to Dubai earned PGA Tour cards this year through that alliance.
Pelley will succeed Michael Friisdahl, who was MLSE's president and CEO from 2015 until 2022. The chief financial officer, Cynthia Devine, has been acting CEO.
For the DP World Tour, Pelley will be replaced by Guy Kinnings, the tour's deputy CEO, on April 2.
"It will be a huge honour to take on this role in April and I am immensely proud to have been given this responsibility," Kinnings said in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.