Canadian Soccer Business looks to reset its identity while expanding the game

Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. lifts the North Star Cup after Cavalry FC defeated Forge FC in the Canadian Premier League Final in Calgary, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. CPL champion Cavalry FC, in its second trip to the CONCACAF Champions Cup, is preparing for its first Mexican foe in Pumas UNAM. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stuart Gradon

One hundred days into the job, Canadian Soccer Business boss James Johnson has released his vision for the future.

Titled “One Identity. One Story. One Collective, Fuelling Canadian Soccer Together,” the 18-page document talks of everything from putting women’s soccer centre stage to growing CSB’s broadcast rights to include international soccer leagues featuring Canadians and expanding its media reach.

In many ways, the document is also about trying to rebrand CSB, which has been seen as wearing a black hat by many, given its controversial deal with Canada Soccer.

Canadian Soccer Business, which shares the same ownership as the men’s Canadian Premier League, looks after marketing and broadcast rights for both Canada Soccer and the CPL, now in its seventh season.

Canada Soccer is believed to receive some $4 million a year under its long-term deal with CSB as “the beneficiary of a rights fee guarantee.” That amount has been boosted by some $500,000 each year leading up to the 2026 World Cup.

National team players have complained that the CSB agreement is holding the game back and preventing national teams from getting the preparation they need. Canada Soccer has said a restructured deal is essential to finalizing a long-awaited labour deal with the men’s and women’s sides.

Johnson is aware of CSB’s image problems, saying in the vision document that near-term priorities include “resetting CSB’s identity, reputation and brand.”

“For 100 days, I’ve been taking feedback and listening and getting perspectives … And that is a challenge,” Johnson said from Montreal ahead of the Canadian men’s friendly with Australia on Friday. “I don’t want to sidestep that point. I want to acknowledge it. And that has been part of my diagnosis.

“But with that said, we want to face forward. And that’s precisely what the vision (document) does.”

Future initiatives include “repositioning” CSB, he added.

“In my view, we need to enhance our relationships certainly with Canada Soccer and the national teams, which have really been at the core, I think, of some of the challenges of the past.”

Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue has sounded positive about talks “to find common ground” with Johnson.

“I think both sides understand the urgency and the importance of achieving alignment, particularly given the environmental opportunities that exist right now with the home World Cup around the corner,” Blue said last month.

Canada Soccer announced more than a year ago that it had reached a “framework” for a long-awaited labour agreement with its men’s and women’s national teams. But the deal was contingent on a reworked deal with CSB.

“We have a much better relationship today than what we’ve had,” said Johnson.

The exact nature of that connection remains unclear, however.

Johnson says the focus is on “collaboration under the existing deal.” But he also says the two sides are talking about “ways in which the relationship can be refigured.”

He says the goal is to find a structure where both CSB and Canada Soccer “are incentivized through an agreement to actually grow the pie.”

“We’re getting there … We’re trying to solve each other’s challenges,” he added.

Johnson’s vision includes broadening CSB’s media portfolio “from focusing solely on Canadian soccer properties to championing all soccer, including international rights.”

He says the transition is moving “from Canada soccer rights to soccer rights in Canada.”

That means acquiring rights to overseas leagues in which Canadians play, combining a broadcast landscape currently fragmented across many different platforms.

“We’d like to be able to bring as many of those rights as possible and sit them together with our existing Canadian soccer rights … That’s really a key part of this vision,” Johnson said.

“It’s a big challenge but it’s something that we believe that over time we can do and building it really one by one,” he added.

OneSoccer, which broadcasts Canadian national team and CPL games, is owned by Timeless Inc., which in turn is owned by Scott Mitchell, chairman of the CPL and CSB.

CSB continues its fight to make OneSoccer more available as a linear channel, in addition to its streaming presence.

Johnson’s vision also talks of elevating and showcasing women’s soccer.

While CSB has no current ties to the Northern Super League, Johnson notes that the lower-tier League1 Canada has sent 60 players to the fledgling women’s circuit.

CSB owns and manages League1 Ontario and League1 B.C., as well as League1 Canada, which also features League1 B.C. and League1 Alberta, as an umbrella organization.

“We want to play a much stronger role in women’s football because we believe in women’s football,” said Johnson.

That includes ensuring CSB has a “strategic relationship with the NSL …(as) part of our future-looking vision,” he added.

Bringing in rights to overseas women’s leagues is also part of the plan.

While FC Supra, based out of Laval, Que., is set to become the CPL’s ninth team in 2026, Johnson says he plans a “lot stronger focus on strengthening our existing clubs.”

And he sees League1 expansion as an important goal.

Johnson had no update on the sale of Pacific FC.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press