TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
EXCLUSIVE: CPL set to reveal formation of Canadian Soccer Business to oversee properties
TORONTO — There’s “no question” the Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) will dump untold sums back into Canada’s premier soccer properties, the CSB’s head honcho told Postmedia in an exclusive interview Wednesday at the group’s headquarters.
Set to launch in 2019, the Canadian Premier League revealed this week the formation of the CSB, a sports entity representing commercial assets for the CPL and Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) ahead of its inaugural season and, potentially, the 2026 World Cup.
The CPL’s new marketing wing says it could produce an explosion of funds not just for an upstart league bolstered by big investors, but Canada’s national teams — both of which have room to grow into global entities, according to the group’s leaders and marketing gurus.
“We had to come up with a different business model for the (CPL) that was going to attract the right type of league owner,” CSB CEO Scott Mitchell told Postmedia.
“For us, the CSB is that vehicle that allows the owner to contemplate a long-term commitment to the league because they’re investing in more than just a team. They’re investing in a soccer entity they think has great growth value.”
In addition to representing a coast-to-coast, all-Canadian league, featuring approximately 10 undisclosed inaugural clubs, the CSB now represents the CSA’s corporate partnerships and broadcast rights, as well as a Canadian Championship Mitchell refers to as a “big property.”
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats executive called the CSB a “linchpin to legitimizing” what the CPL is trying to do: Develop a Canadian game that’s nowhere near reaching its ceiling.
“If it wasn’t about that, we wouldn’t be doing this,” Mitchell reiterated to Postmedia.
The attractiveness, industry insiders say, is that nothing else compares right now. Chris Lang, who boasts more than five decades of marketing experience, believes the CSB has an edge over other Canadian sports properties due to emerging demographics and a top-to-bottom structure that’s all-encompassing.
“(This property) offers three things: Local, national and international,” Lang told Postmedia. “No other property gives you that. You can’t get that in hockey.
“I’ve never seen a package like this in my life — one that has all those pieces.”
The closest comparison is Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the enterprise that oversees the United States Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer, which operates three clubs in Canada — Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Whether this chips away at Major League Soccer’s stranglehold remains to be seen.
“If you’re the average person who’s seen some of the successes and failures of professional soccer in Canada, you’re going to see this is a very big difference,” Mitchell added.
It’s the culmination of a process former CSA boss Victor Montagliani set in motion four years ago when he told Postmedia the CPL’s success wouldn’t depend entirely on “butts in seats.” The FIFA VP’s vision was to build a Canadian soccer industry to improve all facets of the game — including coaching, refereeing and administration at the top level.
“There’s nothing like this that exists right now — the opportunity to be at the top of the pyramid, which is the (CPL) and the national teams of Canadian soccer, down to the grassroots programs,” Mitchell explained. “It’s very compelling.”
Having already confirmed Hamilton and Winnipeg as the CPL’s flagship team, the CPL will reveal six to eight additional inaugural clubs within the next two months.
Halifax, Ottawa, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton, Moncton, Victoria, Quebec City, Mississauga, Fraser Valley, Kitchener-Waterloo, and York Region (Toronto) have been mentioned as possible locations for inaugural or future CPL clubs.
“What we’re trying to position is, ‘Come and be with us from the beginning and have equity in the game in terms of how we develop athletes and how we tackle this together,” said Ian Charlton, CSB Head of Partnerships and Chief Sales Officer.
“If we start with that ... and we have our 10 partners who are doubling down and in with us for the next 10 years, that’s going to help (the product) on the pitch. That’s going to help (Canadian men’s coach) John Herdman. That’s going to help (the CSA) get to the goals that they only can decide for themselves. But partnerships and media are a huge driving force in helping that become reality.”
Mitchell summed up how the CSB could change the game over the next decade.
“The CSB is the entity that’s attracting (CPL) investors and owners,” he said. “That produces the league. The league is helping to develop a soccer economy in Canada, coaches and players.”