Former Canadian national team player Diana Matheson co-founded Project 8 Sports, Inc., in June 2022 and led it from its launch
Upon her retirement from professional soccer in July 2021, Diana Matheson began advocating for both a national domestic women's league and National Women's Soccer League team in Canada.[1] Her early plans specified a six-month professional league with player leadership, and cited her experience with the Ottawa Fury and Vancouver Whitecaps of the defunct USL W-League as examples of what Canada lacked in player development opportunities.[2] Matheson entered Queen's University at Kingston to pursue a Master of Business Administration degree in August 2021,[1] and enrolled in the UEFA Executive Master for International Players program toward sports administration.[3]
In December 2021, Matheson presented a plan for women's soccer in Canada to the Canadian Soccer Association, but discussions did not progress. While attending Queen's, Matheson co-founded Project 8 Sports, Inc., in June 2022 with master's classmate Thomas Gilbert and began planning a professional domestic women's soccer league. Matheson formally announced the league – known provisionally as Project 8 – on December 5, 2022, on The National alongside former national-team teammate Christine Sinclair, who advised the group. The announcement included the league's first two teams in the Whitecaps and Calgary Foothills WFC, and first two sponsors in CIBC and Air Canada. She also announced talks with Toronto FC owners Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) and CF Montreal, both of Major League Soccer, and a target of May 2024 for sanctioning from Canada Soccer.[3] Matheson named Dome Productions as the league's initial broadcast production partner.[4]
In January 2023, Matheson noted that talks had also included independent and foreign ownership groups, and announced franchise fees of $1 million with an expectation of owners investing $10 million total over the first five seasons,[5] with entry including equity in the league itself.[6] She also detailed limits on foreign players to seven per team, and suggested that the new league would not deal with Canada Soccer Business, the entity that owns broadcast rights to the Canadian Premier League men's soccer competition.[5]
On April 26, 2023, Project 8 announced the league's third team, AFC Toronto, with an independent ownership group composed of people on the board of North Toronto Soccer Club (NTSC) competing in League1 Ontario, though the Project 8 team would not be formally affiliated with the NTSC organization. The initial announcement did not include participation from Toronto FC or MLSE.[7] In May, Project 8 was recognized as a "league in membership" by the Canadian Soccer Association.[8]
On May 28, 2024, the official logo and name for the league were revealed as the Northern Super League, along with the announcement that teams from both Montreal and Ottawa would also join the league for the 2025 inaugural season.[9][10] The league avoided including Canada and the word "women" in its name to emulate other successful sports leagues.[11] On May 30, the name and logo of Calgary Wild FC was unveiled.[12][13] On June 13, the name and logo of Halifax Tides FC was announced.[14] On August 15, the name and logo of Ottawa Rapid FC was unveiled.[15][16] On August 26, the name and logo of Vancouver Rise FC was unveiled.[17] On October 8, the name and logo of Montreal Roses FC was unveiled.[18]
On July 8, former CFL and Woodbine Entertainment Group executive Christina Litz was announced as the league's president with Matheson moving into the role of chief growth officer.[19]
The inaugural match was held on April 16, 2025, with Vancouver hosting Calgary at BC Place. The first goal in league history was a penalty kick scored by Quinn.[20]
The league's preparations and launch are profiled in Michèle Hozer's 2025 documentary film The Pitch.[21]
On September 8, 2025, the league announced that it was seeking to add an expansion team in 2027, engaging Whitecap Sports Group to identify and evaluate a new ownership group for club opportunities, focusing on Central and Western Canada.[22]
Competition format
For the inaugural season in 2025, the six founding clubs will each play 25 matches—three will have 13 home and 12 away matches, while the remaining three will have 12 home matches and 13 away matches. The league uses the standard points system in world soccer—three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. A single table is used to determine the four teams who advance to the postseason playoffs, beginning with a semifinal staged in a home-and-away aggregate series; the higher seed hosts the second leg. A single-leg league championship is scheduled for November 15.[23] On July 18, 2025, it was announced that the league's first final would be hosted at BMO Field in Toronto.[24]
The Northern Super League clubs primarily use shared stadiums and have lower scheduling priority compared to the primary or established tenants. Matchdays were determined by available dates at these venues as well as breaks for international play mandated by the FIFA International Match Calendar.[11]
Teams
On April 4, 2024, the league confirmed that six clubs had submitted applications to the CSA to get professional status.[25]
On June 11, 2024, the NSL announced multi-year deals with CBC, Radio-Canada, TSN and RDS.[32][33][34] On April 7, 2025, the NSL announced multi-year media partnership with ESPN to air matches in the United States. ESPN+, will stream at least 40 matches including select playoff games and the final.[35]
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