Christine Sinclair says the new domestic professional women's league she is planning with former teammate Diana Matheson will create opportunities that never previously existed for Canadian women.
"As a player that still plays on the national team, I've been waiting my entire career for even just the opportunity or the chance — or the choice — to play at home," Sinclair, the Canadian women's national team captain, told media during a conference call on Tuesday. "I think as national team players, that's all we've ever wanted.
"That's why we're doing this," she added. "Inspiring the next generation of young Canadians, giving young girls an opportunity to fulfil their dreams."
Sinclair and Matheson announced the league on Monday during an interview with CBC's Adrienne Arsenault on The National. It’s slated to kick off in 2025 and will feature eight teams throughout Canada.
"This has obviously been a lot of work behind the scenes getting to this point and now this is a bit of an exciting day for us,” Matheson said on Tuesday. “But it's also just the beginning of a process and the beginning of the next few years and continuing to build this all the way to 2025.”
Many of Canada's current national team members are playing in Europe for teams like Chelsea, Juventus and Benfica, or across the land border in the NWSL.
Players have expressed interest before in NWSL expansion to Canada, as the league has expanded in recent years with San Diego, KC Current, Racing Louisville and Angel City FC.
With many having to live far from home and a lack of pathways for Canadian women in soccer to stay close to home while achieving dreams of playing professionally, the Canadian soccer icons took matters into their own hands.
Matheson and her company Project 8, and her business partner Thomas Gilbert are spearheading the development.
The league, yet to be named, is planning to begin play in April 2025 with an inaugural champion crowned in the fall. Each team will have at least one Canadian international, and with over 100 Canadians currently playing abroad the league is aiming to bring many of them home.
The Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS are the first team to commit to the league, according to Matheson. Investors in Calgary Foothills Soccer Club and sponsors, including CIBC and Air Canada, are also on board.
In addition to playing opportunities, the league will contribute to the branding of Canada's women soccer players, according to Matheson.
"We can bring Canadians back to Canada and players [will have the] ability to monetize their brand," she said. "Canada is so different than playing abroad — our players won a gold medal [in the 2021 Olympics] and a week later they were back with their clubs in Europe ... They don't have the opportunity to sign with brands or earn sponsorship dollars, do speeches, run camps, all these things that can drive your personal brand. Bringing players back to Canada, they're going to have the opportunity to do that. So, we want to really leverage that with the players, as well.
"I think we can be optimistic that we can get some recognizable Canadian stars here."
The decade-old NWSL had a minimum salary of $35,000 US and a maximum of $75,000 US, plus allocation money beyond its $1.1-million US salary cap, to spend on select superstars, numbers that Project 8 aims to replicate in their domestic league.
Owners would pay a franchise fee of $1 million, with each ownership group estimated to need eight to $10 million to operate a club through the first five seasons. Project 8 will own 20 per cent of the league, while teams own 80 per cent.
The plan is for the league to be independent from Canada Soccer, though it would need to be sanctioned through the governing body. That could happen by May of 2024, said Matheson.
She added that marketing will be an emphasis for the league as it attempts to grow.
"We've had a good response globally," she said. "I think people are waiting for this product to arrive. And it's our job to make sure it looks good and they can find it when it does arrive."
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