Canada Soccer officials have also been in talks with the private company Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) in recent months to renegotiate a controversial media and sponsorship agreement that was signed in 2018.
According to that contract, which will be in place through 2037 if CSB decides to extend an initial 10-year deal, CSB pays Canada Soccer an annual fee of between $3-$4 million.
In exchange, the private company, which is owned and controlled by Canadian Premier League (CPL) team owners, receives all of the revenue from the national teams' media rights and sponsorships.
The contract, first publicly detailed by TSN in July 2022, has come under withering criticism during a series of Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage hearings in Ottawa over the past year.
Members of Parliament have repeatedly pressed Canada Soccer for answers about why the organization handed away such valuable rights for 20 years at a time, particularly after Canada had agreed in April 2017 to join the U.S. and Mexico in a joint bid to host the 2026 World Cup.
Canada Soccer negotiated the CSB deal in late 2017 at a time when many in the media reported the U.S., Canada and Mexico were favourites to secure the World Cup ahead of a rival bid from Morocco. Winning the right to co-host the 2026 World Cup, which will be the largest ever with 104 matches, up from 64 during the 2022 event in Qatar, has significantly enhanced the value of Canada Soccer’s media and sponsorship rights.
Despite repeated public assurances from Canada Soccer officials that CSB had agreed to “modernize” their contract, it's unclear if tangible offers to retool the contract have been presented.