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Virginia Water, England (SportsNetwork.com) - The European Tour named Keith Pelley as it new Chief Executive Officer on Friday. Pelley will replace George O'Grady, who announced last November that he was stepping down.

Pelley is currently the president of Rogers Media in Canada, where he helped orchestrate the largest sports right deal in Canadian history, when Rogers acquired the rights to National Hockey League broadcasts.

"I am very honored to be joining the European Tour as its new CEO at an exciting stage in its development," Pelley said. "The tour already has a highly regarded reputation and I look forward to building on this using my previous experience in both media and sports to ensure it remains at forefront of the game across the globe."

Pelley led Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium for the 2010 winter games in Vancouver. Prior to that, Pelley was the CEO of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts.

"I am delighted to welcome Keith Pelley to the European Tour as our new Chief Executive. Keith's proven track record, extensive experience and outstanding leadership skills in both sport and media will be invaluable as we continue to further develop our strategy," said European Tour chairman David Williams.

"On behalf of the board, I would again like to thank George O'Grady for his extraordinary contribution to the European Tour and professional golf over the last 40 years and we are delighted that he will undertake the role of President of International Relations, ensuring the European Tour will continue to benefit from his knowledge and experience."