Canada women’s soccer league tough road ahead

Image: BC Place, Nicki Dugan Pogue, CC BY-SA 2.0

Week 1 of the Northern Super League (Canada) is done, to positive reviews. Now the hard work really begins.

‘CBC’ stated that the high-profile opening games at Vancouver’s (Canada) 54,500-capacity BC Place Stadium and Toronto’s 28,180-capacity BMO Field drew announced crowds of 14,018 and 14,518, respectively.

The Northern Super League is a top-division professional women’s soccer league in Canada. The league is owned and operated by Project 8 Sports, Inc., (a company focused on pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in sport, particularly in Canada) and includes six teams: The Halifax Tides FC, the Montreal Roses FC, the AFC Toronto, the Calgary Wild FC, the Ottawa Rapid FC, and the Vancouver Rise FC.

‘CBC’ further stated that the Vancouver Rise FC raised the curtain on the six-team league with a 1-0 win over the Calgary Wild FC. And the Montreal Roses FC hung on for a 1-0 victory over the AFC Toronto.

Kevin Blue, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and General Secretary of Canada Soccer, believes the new league will have a lasting effect – “I think certainly [it will] solidify and continue to accelerate Canada as a global leader in women’s football. I think it’s important that everyone recognize that. The perseverance, the determination, the savvy, the business skills, the entrepreneurial spirit. It’s just an extraordinary accomplishment. And it’s such an amazing contribution to the growth of women’s football in Canada.”

While the football in both the opening games was a little scrappy, as one might expect from teams taking their first steps, there was plenty to admire.

Canada women’s Coach Casey Stoney, who played in England’s Women’s Super League when it kicked off in 2011, says the new league has to find its own path – which includes the right venues – “It’s about playing where’s suitable at the right time. The game need to continue to grow. And I think while it’s growing you put it in a stadium that’s suitable.

And then you try and market it. And as it keeps growing, maybe it ends up here [at the BMO Field]. In England, we started on a very small scale. And look where it is now. You have to be patient. You have to give it time to grow. And we have to put money and investment [in] to make sure it grows in the right direction – at the right speed.”

Diana Matheson, the league’s Chief Growth Officer and Part-Owner of the Ottawa franchise, has said the goal is to add two expansion teams for 2027. Finding locations with the suitable venues could be tricky.

Comparable countries like Denmark and Australia have a mid-size stadium for every half-million people, Matheson said. In Canada, it’s one for every eight million.

Stated Matheson “We have a massive gap [in infrastructure] in Canada and it hurts the growth of this league. Because even if we have the first- or second- or third-highest average attendance in the world for women’s pro soccer, if we’re in the wrong stadium, you don’t get the atmosphere. And if we’re second or third tenants, we don’t get the broadcast times or game times. We don’t control revenues in the stadium so even if we’re selling all these tickets we’re not seeing all the revenue for it. So when we’re looking at the expansion markets it’s already with an eye to let’s go to the Cities and provinces that are going to help us fill this gap. And it’s going to help support the growth of our league but also, of course, the other sports in the City, the other community and culture events. Because there are just not enough of these types of buildings in Canada.”

Matheson takes particular pride in the NSL’s independence noting many women’s leagues and teams around the world are owned by the men’s leagues or franchises – “And women’s football is still, incredibly, the second decision they make. And it is a huge strength for us globally that we have a league that is independent, that every dollar in is going to building women’s soccer in Canada.”

The Major League Soccer (MLS) team Vancouver Whitecaps FC Co-Owner Greg Kerfoot is part of the ownership group of the NSL’s Vancouver franchise but it is a separate entity from the MLS team.

It is up to the fans now to show support for the new league by buying a ticket, or a jersey.

Concluded Matheson, “We’ve been working pretty hard behind the scenes for two-and-a-half years to get to this point. And now it’s the point where it’s a little bit of a tag-team – ‘You’re in fans. Now it’s time for you to help us build this too and build the atmosphere in the stadiums and show us what it look like for your fanbase and your market.’”

New York (US)-based Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada.

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