MLSE CEO Keith Pelley: 'We're not afraid of change'

Keith Pelley, new chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment appears to be settling into his role after formally taking charge of the conglomerate on Tuesday.

"It's an honour, it's a privilege, and it's a responsibility," Pelley said on Friday, during an appearance on Sportsnet's the FAN Pregame Show.

When Pelley left Toronto and Rogers Media (which owns Sportsnet) to join golf's European Tour Group in 2015, he said there were only two jobs he'd come back to the city for: to run an NFL team in the city or to be CEO of MLSE.

Nearly nine years later, he's returned to the city having remained true to his word. Pelley acknowledged the impact he can have with MLSE, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL, Toronto's Scotiabank Arena and BMO Field.

"It's pretty exciting, and I think the opportunity here is enormous, buzzing with anticipation is the phrase I would use," said Pelley. "All of (ownership) are wildly aligned on winning. ... I'm incredibly impressed with the commitment MLSE has given to the community."

Pelley was also quick to compliment the work of Raptors team president Masai Ujiri and Maple Leafs' president Brendan Shanahan and what each have built during their time in charge, but didn't hesitate to mention his willingness to adapt and make decisions in order to win.

"The people that I've met here are incredibly energized about the opportunity that we have. We're going to be leaders, though," Pelley said. "We're not afraid of change; if you're afraid of change, you risk the possibility of falling behind, and we're not going to fall behind."

Pelley did circle back on his comments and mention that "the worst thing you can do is change for the sake of change. However, all businesses need to be evolving ... we want to win."

He added that MLSE would adopt a more international strategy when it came to innovation and growth but remained tight-lipped on any ideas of potential expansion or acquisition.

"In terms of where growth will be coming with MLSE, this is Day 5, so that'll be conversations that we'll deeply have with ownership," Pelley said. "My primary focus right now is the impact we can have on the city, the country, with the legendary brands that we have while at the same time extending them internationally."

Aside from serving as president of Rogers Media, Pelley also spent time with the Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, TSN and the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. He grew up in Etobicoke, Ont., (still owning his home there) and graduated from Ryerson University, now called Toronto Metropolitan University.

Pelley is taking over the role from Michael Friisdahl, who left MLSE in February 2022 to take over as executive chairman of Signature Aviation, a British-based multinational aviation services company. Friisdahl had been in place since the departure of Tim Leiweke in 2015.