October 2 – The Canadian Premier League (CPL), which is scheduled to kick off its inaugural season in 2019, has signed a long-term deal with Italian apparel company Macron.
Described as a “long term deal” Macron the official league kit provider will provide playing kit and training gear for all seven of the announced CPL clubs so far.
The CPL is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and is building its commercial franchise club model on similar lines to the MLS in the US.
There will be no promotion or relegation structure for the league in its initial seasons but its objective is to reach a point where there will be promotion and relegation within the Canadian league system. A primary objective of the league is stimulate home grown talent and provide a professional pathway and there will be a minimum quota of Canadian players on teams’ rosters
The MLS has blazed the trail globally for franchise football club structure, and has a long standing deal with Adidas which has supplied all the kit to the league’s teams since the start of the league. In August 2017 Adidas has signed a record breaking six-year renewal with the MLS reckoned to be worth more than $700 million.
The CPL deal will be not get close to that value but it is a significant starting point for the league.
For Macron the CPL deal provides a bridgehead into the North American market.
“We’re thrilled to be entering into a market so receptive to soccer, and also because the deal with the CPL allows our team to work on a long-term basis on the development of new collections that we hope the players and fans will wear with pride,” Macron CEO Gianluca Pavanello said in a release.
The confirmed CPL clubs to date are HFX Wanderers FC, York 9 FC, Forge FC, Valour FC, FC Edmonton, Cavalry FC and Pacific FC squad and coaching staff.
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