Canadian women’s pro soccer league, founded by former Canadian international Diana Matheson, has announced that AFC Toronto City is the third team to join the league as a founding franchise. The new league aims to launch in 2025 with eight teams split across two conferences, and Vancouver Whitecaps and Calgary Foothills have already signed on. Toronto City’s ownership is an entrepreneurial group led by CEO Helena Ruken, COO Brenda Ha, and chief marketing officer Jill Burgin. Project 8 also announced that DoorDash Canada has joined CIBC, Air Canada, and Canadian Tire as the new league’s corporate partners, and the league is looking for four more lead partners.
Ruken, who has a master’s degree in elementary particle physics from the University of Freiburg, got involved in soccer through her four children, while Ha spent time in the financial sector with the BMO Financial Group and CIBC and founded Check Box Services, a self-described “concierge service that provides customized support to help you accomplish items on your life’s to-do list.” Burgin, who has an MBA from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, has marketing experience having spent three years in London as a training director for Diageo Global. The other three co-owners are Mike Ruthard, Billy Wilson, and Shamez Mangalji, who also have ties to North Toronto Soccer Club.
The franchise fee for the new league is $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. Owners are buying a piece of the league as well as their own franchise. Project 8 plans to go after official league recognition from Canada Soccer at its annual general meeting in May and to continue adding franchises to get to the eight-team mark.
Matheson stated that the league is hoping to have all eight teams announced by the end of 2023, and they have good leads in the markets they want to be in across Canada. The hope is to build a home for women’s professional sport in the city and the province. Toronto City will be looking at all available stadium options, whether that’s existing, renovation, or new. Women’s sports are on the rise, with the price of new NWSL franchises south of the border soaring with reported franchises fees of US$50 million in the San Francisco Bay Area and Boston. Project 8 Sports Inc. was founded by Matheson and Thomas Gilbert.