Q&A with Keith Pelley, president and CEO of MLSE

What impact has TMU had on your career?

I loved my time at TMU. I played for the Rams (now the Bold) my first year. I was a DJ at Oakham House. I made lifelong friends here. Scott Moore (RTA `84) helped me get my first job at TSN as an editorial assistant. When I was president of Rogers Media, we ended up negotiating the Canadian broadcast rights for all NHL games together. It didn’t take long if you were at RTA to realize you were moving into a niche market and if you want to succeed, you have to be the best. You need an incredible work ethic, a good attitude and a never-say-no approach. It’s also where I realized I didn’t want to be on air but loved all facets of television production. 

What were the pivotal moments in your career that led you from an assistant editor at TSN to president and CEO of MLSE? 

The first was in 1988: I was 24 years old and was given the opportunity to either be a producer for Sports Desk (now Sports Centre) or to go to Calgary and work as an associate producer at the Calgary Olympics. I went to Calgary. That prepared me for a move into the event side of the business and led to opportunities to produce CFL football and curling and to produce NFL Football for Fox in the U.S. 

Then, in 1997, TSN called with an offer to become the VP of programming. I didn’t know anything about programming. When I was president of TSN renegotiating the television rights for the CFL, then-commissioner Tom Wright introduced me to the two new owners of the Toronto Argonauts who asked me to join the Argos as president and CEO. I learned a whole different skill set, which led to the opportunity to run Canada’s broadcast media consortium for the 2010 Olympics, which then led me to Rogers Media. In 2014, I got a call from a headhunter to join the European Tour Group and move to the U.K. Nine years later I’m here, with an opportunity to run my childhood teams.

How will you create a winning culture at MLSE?

You need to be transparent, collaborative and you need to be able to have courageous conversations. You need to have unwavering trust and confidence in each other, on and off the ice/field. It’s difficult to win because of the competitive balance in the leagues. If you are able to create that cohesion, then you will create a winning culture.

What is your vision for the MLSE?

My overarching feeling is we need to operate as a collective unit rather than a series of different businesses. What exactly do we want to be? How are we going to achieve it? And how are we going to behave to be able to do that? That’s what we’re in the midst of doing now. 

What advice would you give students and alumni looking to move into leadership?

I’ve worked with incredible people. I think that is the key to success. I like to surround myself with people that have different skill sets and opinions and who are willing to challenge me. As a leader, it’s important to know you don’t have all the answers. Listen, be methodical and learn to manage meetings with your staff without your phones. If this meeting is not the most important thing I’m doing right now, then why am I doing it?