Keith Pelley has been named as the next chief executive of the European Tour and will replace the outgoing George O’Grady this summer.
Pelley, 51, has served as the president of Rogers Media in Canada since 2010. Prior to that, the Canadian also led the media consortium for broadcast rights holders at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and served as president and CEO of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League from 2003-2007. According to a European Tour release, he was a unanimous choice by the circuit’s board of directors.
“I am very honored to be joining the European Tour as its new CEO at an exciting stage in its development,” Pelley said as part of the release. “The Tour already has a highly regarded reuptation and I look forward to building on this using my previous experience in both media and sports to ensure it remains at the forefront of the game across the globe.”
Pelley will take over for O’Grady, who has been with the European Tour for more than 40 years and has served as its chief executive since 2005. He announced in November that he would be stepping down, but would remain in his role until a successor was chosen.
“I look forward to welcoming Keith to the European Tour and ensuring a smooth transition as I continue to develop my new role,” O’Grady said. “I am certain that Keith will bring a fresh and business-focused perspective to the Tour.”