Matheson’s vision becomes a reality this week as the Northern Super League kicks off

Diana Matheson, centre, former Canadian soccer player and CEO of Project 8 behind the creation of the Canadian Women's Professional Soccer League is flanked by co-founders Isabele Chevalier, left and Jean-Francois Crevier in Montreal on May 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Diana Matheson has been waiting for Wednesday for a long time.

That’s when vision turns into reality as the new Northern Super League kicks off with a high-profile opener at B.C. Place Stadium between Vancouver Rise FC and Calgary Wild FC.

“The idea was always there. I think it was a question of how,” said the 41-year-old Matheson, co-founder and chief growth officer of the six-team women’s professional soccer league.

To help the how, Matheson went back to school at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business where she connected with fellow student Thomas Gilbert. “A huge moment,” she said.

Matheson and Gilbert founded Project 8 with an eye to creating the new league, which kicks off with teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

Matheson’s postgraduate studies were helped by a scholarship via the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Game Plan program, which offers everything from mental health support to educational opportunities.

Matheson, who won 206 caps for Canada in a distinguished international career that stretched from 2003 to 2020, also took part in the UEFA Master for International Players program, designed to help players successfully transition to “a second career within football organizations.”

“She is like no other individual I have ever not only worked with but just encountered,” said NSL president Christina Litz, whose resume includes stints with the CFL, Woodbine Entertainment and Manitoba’s True North Sports and Entertainment.

“She really underplays who she is and how this came about,” she added.

Litz calls the Princeton-educated Matheson “one of the most remarkable people you’ll meet.”

Litz says Matheson embodies a new style of leadership “which is you can be accomplished like this on one hand, but on the other hand be kind, be funny, be approachable. And you don’t see that a lot in leadership. Certainly in my experience it is few and far between in professional sports — to have all of that together. She represents what this is all about and we all owe it to her, certainly at the league, to do this well … I would say it’s time for the rest of Canada to take some of the load to build this sport here.”

You can do that by buying a ticket, watching a game TV or supporting one of the league’s sponsors, says Litz.

Matheson spent 18 months from December 2022 “working to find the right owners to get enough teams to start this thing.”

“And certainly for me that meant not just having the people with the deepest pockets at the table … I needed people that didn’t just have the money, (people who) understood the purpose of what we were doing here, about creating opportunities for not just players, coaches, but women in business, women in media.”

Said Litz: “It’s a really aligned group around the table in terms of what we’re building — and why we’re building it.”

Part of Matheson’s message was while the new league is part of a “growth industry,” owners need to be in for the long haul.

“It’s not a quick return here, but there are long-term returns on investment.”

That return is from the rising value of the franchise.

“That said, we also plan to be one of the best women’s soccer leagues in the world at driving revenues,” said Matheson.

The initial franchise fee for the league was $1 million, with a need for an estimated $8 million to $10 million in total invested capital over the first five seasons in addition to necessary spending on infrastructure.

Investors include former Canada captain Christine Sinclair (Vancouver), Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey and former Cavalry FC midfielder Charlie Trafford (Calgary), former star sprinter Bruny Surin and former Canadian international Patrice Bernier (Montreal) and Olympic medallist sprinter Andre De Grasse (AFC Toronto).

The league has already attracted big-name sponsors including BMO, Canadian Tire, Coca-Cola DoorDash, Sport Chek, Toyota and WestJet. And it has broadcast deals on both sides of the border.

“I think we have all the building blocks, all the fundamentals out of the gate, to have some assurance that we’re going to be here for the long haul,” said Litz.

An NSL spokesman said the league expects attendance for the Vancouver opener to exceed the 12,219 announced for the recent Canada-Argentina women’s friendly at B.C. Place.

Saturday’s AFC Toronto-Montreal game at BMO Feld is expected to draw some 14,000.

According to figures provided by the league, the 132 players signed by the NSL include 87 Canadians and 45 international players. Forty of the players have national team experience, including Canadian veterans Quinn, Erin McLeod and Desiree Scott.

Matheson is delighted with the player pool, considering talent was being asked to join a new league.

But she says the type of player she is most excited about “is the one that I don’t even know yet, that is the next whoever it is, a Sinc or Jessie Fleming or a Cloe Lacasse. We haven’t even met them yet and now they’re going to get to develop in this league and become a national team star.”

Matheson, who like Gilbert is part of the ownership group of the Ottawa franchise, is already looking ahead. The goal is add two teams for the 2027 season.

Article by Neil Davidson.