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- Canada co-hosting men’s Fifa World Cup for first time and have qualified for last 16
- New Canada Soccer deal sparked flurry of pre-tournament commercial activity
- SportsPro understands CSME partnership revenue increased 35% for 2025/26
Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment (CSME), the commercial rights partner for Canada Soccer, is ready to command a premium for its sponsorship inventory on the back of the 2026 Fifa World Cup, with existing deals deliberately structured to expire after the event to capitalise on growing interest and demand.
The strategy is built on CSME’s belief that Canada’s co-hosting of the men’s World Cup for the first time will result in higher levels of fan engagement, media consumption and sponsor demand after the tournament, which is also being held across the USA and Mexico.
Asked whether that meant CSME would be raising the pricing floor for its commercial partnerships, CSME chief executive James Johnson replied: “Yes, it absolutely does.”
He continued: “All of our commercial agreements were deliberately done so that they expire not too long after the World Cup finishes. That is based on the belief that the interest in the sport will be higher after the World Cup, which I believe it will be. So that was a strategic move.
“The good news is we’ve got a lot of great existing partners we want to retain, and there are categories we’re still in discussions about filling. But there will definitely be a premium after the World Cup, because we’re seeing how the sport is taking over the sporting agenda.”
Canadian interest in the World Cup has been amplified by the performance of the country’s national team, who will face Morocco in the last 16 on 4th July following a last-minute 1-0 win against South Africa on Sunday.
Strong crowds have been recorded at games held in Toronto and Vancouver and an average audience of 5.3 million watched Canada’s 6-0 win against Qatar on TSN and other Bell Media platforms, making it the country’s most-watched World Cup group stage game ever.
Johnson, who has spent just over a year at CSME after joining from Football Australia, where he was chief executive when the country staged the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup, said the longer Canada stay in the tournament, the better it is for business.
“I do believe that the longer the home team stay [in the tournament], the more commercial interest there is, the more opportunities there are,” he said, speaking the day before Canada’s final group game against Switzerland. “That’s why the home team performance does impact the success of the tournament, but also the success of the legacy as well.”
Canada Soccer deal ‘gave the market confidence’
CSME, which recently rebranded from Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), is responsible for all commercial activity covering Canada’s men’s and women’s national teams, as well as the Canadian Premier League (CPL) and other domestic competitions.
The Toronto-based organisation was already seeing strong commercial momentum leading into this summer’s tournament as brands looked to associate themselves with the Canada national team during a home World Cup.
Uber, BMO and Walmart are among those that signed pre-World Cup deals with CSME, which SportsPro understands recorded a 35 per cent year-on-year increase in partnership revenue for the 2025/26 season.
Much of that commercial activity followed confirmation of CSME’s new partnership with Canada Soccer to continue marketing the governing body’s commercial rights, replacing an agreement which had become the subject of public scrutiny and labour disputes.
Under the previous arrangement, CSME paid Canada Soccer a fixed annual payment reported to be between CAN$3 million (US$2.1 million) and CAN$4 million (US$2.82 million) annually – irrespective of how much revenue was generated.
Announced in February, the new agreement introduced a performance-based revenue-sharing framework that is backed up by minimum guarantees. Canada Soccer has said that the reworked deal will deliver more than CAN$100 million (US$70.4 million) in net revenue over the lifetime of the contract, which runs until 2037.
“My belief was we always needed to get that agreement done quickly and well before the World Cup,” Johnson said. “It was probably two months later than what I wanted, but it did give us enough runway to go to the market with an opportunity that is unique not only in Canada, but also the rest of the world. I think the new agreement gave the market confidence, and I think the market responded in the way I was expecting it to.
“We’re at a different stage now, though. We’re looking at what agreements finish and when, and we’re looking at making sure we’re rewarding good partners for not only investing in the sport, but also helping us build the brand of the sport by activating in the right ways.”
Rogers ruling offers timely distribution boost
CSME’s pitch to sponsors will also be strengthened by the prospect of wider media exposure for Canadian soccer properties following the World Cup.
OneSoccer is set to be distributed by Rogers after a court dismissed the telecommunications giant’s appeal against an earlier ruling which deemed that the company had exercised undue preference by refusing to add the streaming service to its linear cable packages.
CSME licenses the media rights to a host of soccer properties to OneSoccer, including men’s and women’s national team games, the CPL and Canadian Championship. It has also recently started acquiring rights to overseas leagues like the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and Germany’s Bundesliga, prioritising competitions with strong Canadian representation.
A carriage agreement with Rogers, Canada’s largest cable provider, promises significantly more visibility for those properties. Johnson said the process is now in the “89th minute” as details get ironed out, including the scale of distribution and what the rate will be.
It is ultimately a timely development that will make Canadian soccer content more accessible during a period when interest should be high.
“That just takes our distribution very large, and it comes at a time when we’re coming out of the World Cup, where interest in the sport and people wanting to watch it will be high,” Johnson added. “I believe our distribution strategy will be able to meet the demand we believe will be there.”
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