Meaghen Johnson: Matheson unveils ambitious vision for Northern Super League | TSN

We the North may soon take on a new meaning.

Project 8, the organization led by former national women’s team star Diana Matheson that is bringing professional women’s soccer to Canada, announced Tuesday that the venture will now be called the Northern Super League (NSL).

Matheson, the CEO and co-founder of Project 8, also confirmed the six teams that will take part in the inaugural season that’s set to kick off in the spring of 2025, with Ottawa and Montreal joining the previously announced clubs in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax.

Matheson made the announcement at the ESPN W Summit Canada in Toronto. The room, comprised largely of professional women in sports and broadcasting, gave the former Canadian international a standing ovation.

“Sit down, you’re going to make me cry,” Matheson told the crowd.

Speaking to TSN after the announcement, Matheson admitted how much that moment meant to her.

“That was unexpected. It made me a bit emotional, for sure,” she said. “It means a lot coming from this group, because this group knows the work that goes into the project and also the impact that it can have.”

The NSL will kick off in April 2025 and feature a 25-game regular season, followed by playoffs and a championship in the fall. All six clubs are owned and operated by independent ownership groups.

The league name came with the help of Broken Heart Love Affair, a global brand agency based in Toronto. Project 8 briefed them on the initiative and provided an overview of Canadian women’s soccer.

The aurora borealis inspired the league colours, with a four-point north star positioned next to the league initials in the logo.

The NSL also made the decision not to include women in the league title.

“I had lots of great conversations about that,” Matheson said. “Do we just own it, put it in there? Because, of course, it’s so important. We’re creating opportunities for women in this. But it felt more powerful without, and more inclusive that way.”

When Matheson first announced Project 8 in Dec. 2022, eight teams were planned for kickoff in 2025. But the NSL will launch with six clubs, with an expansion strategy expected to be announced later this year.

“The model for eight was built out largely by me, based on what I thought the player pool could support – eight teams without diminishing playing quality at all,” Matheson said. “We still had ongoing conversations with other markets. But at the end of the day, it was the six that were ready to go for next year, so we’ll kick off with them.”

The NSL has been building a strong foundation before a ball is ever kicked. Matheson recently announced a $1.5 million salary cap, which allows the NSL to compete with the top leagues around the world, including the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

The NWSL is a U.S.-based league that began in 2013, and currently boasts many of Canada’s top players, including captain Jessie Fleming and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. The NWSL’s salary cap remained under $1 million until 2022, and is currently at $2.75 million.

The Canadian Premier League, the top men’s soccer tier in Canada that recently kicked off its sixth season, increased its salary cap to $1.2 million earlier this year.

Matheson explained the NSL’s salary cap is based on the league’s financial model, and used attendance projections, sponsorship numbers, and comparisons to the NWSL and other leagues as benchmarks. Canadian Tire Corporation, DoorDash, CIBC and Air Canada are among the founding corporate partners.

“Based on the revenues we’re driving, we felt that the $1.5 million was a good starting point. We know that salaries internationally are rising quickly too, and we want to compete internationally,” Matheson said.

When it comes to competing with other leagues for top international players, Matheson points to a minimum salary in the NSL of $50,000 as a major draw. Teams will have a maximum of seven spots for non-Canadian players.

“We’ll tell them about winter after they get here,” Matheson laughed.

But the primary goal for the league remains unchanged: to give Canadian players a league of their own at home.

“We can bring them home where they can build a life and their brand in a Canadian market,” Matheson said. “There are opportunities for Canadians coming home to monetize your own brand in a way there’s just not when you play abroad. Like, if you’re a Canadian star, but you’re playing in Italy or Norway, the Italian and Norwegian brands aren’t looking to sign international players.”

Matheson confirmed other details for the inaugural season. There will be no entry draft, like the NWSL uses for clubs to select collegiate players, although the NSL may add one in future seasons. The league will also employ a two-way trade system, meaning any trades must be agreed upon by the player.

Matheson, who was a player rep for the Canadian Soccer Players’ Association before retiring, stressed the importance of player rights. The league will start with a standard player agreement with as many “best practices” as possible built into it. Once players are in place, the league will work directly with them on a future collective bargaining agreement.

An announcement for broadcasting rights is expected next week, but Matheson noted that the NSL is adopting a strategy similar to that used by the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), which invests in its own productions and distributes to various Canadian broadcasters.

“We know we’re a growth market. So, we invest in our own production,” she said. “We work with Canadian distributors to get in front of as many Canadian eyeballs as possible in the first few years and make sure it looks good.”

When it comes to professional women’s sports in Canada, the PWHL has helped pave the way for the NSL, with attendance records for women’s hockey being broken repeatedly throughout its inaugural season.

“I think they had all the pressure on them,” Matheson said. “I think they broke the glass ceiling to say, ‘No, women’s professional sport is a business and we’re good at it, and there’s a market.’ So, I think it’s taking the pressure off.

“And it’s about data, right? That’s always been the challenge in the past – to monetize this to fight against any biases. We didn’t have enough data to disprove it. And now that’s changed over the last few years, and the PWHL data around viewership engagement, all these things. It’s just fuel to the fire for us.”