Handbrakes off: CSME agrees new 12-year Canada Soccer commercial accord
The Canada Soccer governing body has agreed a new long-term commercial partnership with Canadian Soccer Media and Entertainment (CSME), the rebranded commercial arm formerly known as Canada Soccer Business, that cements the future commercialization of the sport in the country.
This agreement, which begins immediately, will run through 2037, cements a new revenue sharing model that will shape soccer investment in the country through the next decade. Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
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In the past, revenue had not been shared. Instead, the former Canada Soccer Business paid Canada Soccer a set amount each year, around $3 million to $4 million, with the rest used by CSB to help fund the growing top-tier Canadian Premier League (CPL).
These new revenue sharing terms are backstopped by a minimum annual sum that is guaranteed, and the agreement also comes with two additional lump sum payments from CSME to Canada Soccer through the term.
Previously, the agreement covered both sponsorship revenue and media rights (relating to CSME’s OneSoccer OTT platform), and has now been expanded to include licensing and merchandising activity related to the Canada Soccer brand, expanding CSME’s remit.
During the partnership, there will be a “look-in period” every three years to ensure the terms remain tied to fair market value, and upon the expiry of the partnership there will be a mutual option for a five-year extension.
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Overseeing the collaboration will be a joint governance structure composed of executives from both bodies.
The pair have also committed to ensuring wide broadcast distribution for Canadian national team games, with equitable coverage of both men’s and women’s teams.
Speaking on the new deal, CSME chief executive James Johnson described this new era for the pair as a lifting of restrictions, saying “the handbrakes have been taken off”.
Johnson spoke at a media roundtable attended by Sportcal (GlobalData Sport), saying: “This gives us the complete commercial package, and all these different commercial properties are all complementary of each other.
“We believe that this new agreement will not only transform the sport, but it will really open the floodgates for a lot of commercial revenue that we expect to see come in over the coming weeks and months as a result of this announcement. The more revenue that we can bring in, the more capital that we're able to bring in as well, the more we can invest in the national teams and the players in the Canadian Premier League, in our leagues that sit underneath, and also in our grassroots participation.”
Johnson reveals that this agreement includes provisions for the creation of a digital soccer ecosystem connecting the national teams and the domestic Canadian Premier League competition, consolidating value within the platform rather than stratifying them across different platforms.
Johnson also confirmed that the media rights acquisition strategy OneSoccer has embarked on in the past year, one that has seen it acquire rights for the US’ NWSL, Germany’s Bundesliga, and regional Concacaf competitions, will continue.
“I think the future of league and professional soccer is going to move away from leagues as platforms themselves. We're starting that journey, and we're going to continue on that journey. We're moving from a league platform to a content ecosystem. So there's, a science to everything we're doing.
“We think that by centralizing all the value of the sport, ultimately we can, we can generate the most revenue and reinvest it back in the sport. So this is something new, It's progressive, and I think it's the way forward for the future of business models in sport and also football.”
Looking forward, 2026 will not only see Canada co-host the showpiece FIFA World Cup, an opportunity Johnson relishes, but also will see the body enter kit supplier negotiations ahead of the expiry of its current contract with Nike.
“I think we're at the absolute peak for wanting and be able to negotiate a new kit deal. I think it's very exciting. We have a very strong women's national team that won [gold at] the Olympics in 2021, we have a very strong men's national team that's still very young. And they're going to get stronger and stronger over the next four to five years, given the age of the players. We're hosting a Home World Cup, so we know the national team brands will really increase.
“So we know we will sell a lot of jerseys this year. We're not going to lay out the process at this point, but we're very excited, because we think there'll be a lot of interest in the market, whether that be a renewal with Nike, or whether it be with another kit provider. We're very excited about what that is going to look like in the future.”
Since CSB began handling commercial properties for Canada Soccer, high-profile companies including Carlsberg, Visa, Canadian Club, Gatorade, and GE Appliances have been added as partners.
Read more – Deep Dive: CSB looks to reset with Canadian soccer.
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