Winnipegger Litz chosen to lead new women’s pro soccer league

The Northern Super League, Canada’s fledgling women’s pro soccer loop, won’t have a team in Winnipeg for its inaugural season in 2025 but it will have an influential Winnipegger atop its power structure.

The NSL announced Monday that Christina Litz, a University of Manitoba trained lawyer and long-time sports executive, has been named its first president.

In recent months, Litz had been serving as a consultant for NSL founders Diana Matheson and Thomas Gilbert. During that time, the league had a brand launch and followed with the announcement of multi-year television broadcast deal involving TSN, RDS, CBC and Radio-Canada.

“Given how well (Canadians) do on the international stage, if we want to stay there and we want to produce more Desiree Scotts out of Winnipeg, we need to have a pathway in which they can play at the highest levels in their country,” said Litz, who served as chief brand and commercial officer at True North Sports and Entertainment until last fall.

“And so that’s the vision. That’s what we’re here to bring to life and and I’m really excited to be a part of it.”

Matheson will continue to be the voice of the new league as chief growth officer. Litz’s Manitoba roots made her a logical candidate for a team based in Winnipeg.

However, the NSL will start play next April without a franchise in the Manitoba capital. A six-team league with clubs in Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary was unveiled in late May.

“It was recommended at the time that if we get a Winnipeg team, Christina Litz would be a fantastic person to help build that club,” said Matheson, a two-time Olympic bronze medallist who retired from the national team in 2021. “And then it turned out we weren’t able to get a Winnipeg team over the line, for 2025 at least, and so we kind of segued into conversations about a possible role at the league.”

Litz’s expertise was developed while working at TNSE and previously at the CFL, where she served as the chief marketing, digital & strategy officer.

“She has the perfect experience for us,” said Matheson. “And that was a goal of this league — to create opportunities and jobs for women in sport and in this whole ecosystem. And for me, the best leaders I’ve had always surrounded themselves with people smarter than them and more experienced for them.

“That’s what we wanted for whoever was leading this project, and Christina’s seen it all at the league level at the club level. It’s been a real draw, or strength of this project that we’ve been able to attract such incredible people in business and women in business in particular.”

The NSL’s timing couldn’t have been better with business booming in the pro women’s leagues such as the WNBA and Professional Women’s Hockey League.

“Really, we are following the playbook of the PWHL where we know that broad exposure to the game is going to be key to growth,” said Litz, noting that 150 Canadians play in women’s pro leagues around the world. “We’re really confident, based on the way our business plan is set up, that we are going to attract some of the best Canadian players that are playing around the world.”

Establishing a domestic league for Canadians is the priority for Litz and Matheson.

“The reality is that there are only three pathways to the national team in Canada and you pretty much have to live around Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and what this pro league is doing is creating pathways to the professional game and to the national team so we can get more talent out of cities like Winnipeg and playing on the national team, because the talent is absolutely there,” said Matheson.

“A few lucky ones and a few incredible stars like Desiree Scott break through, but I guarantee it, there’s more Desiree Scotts out there in Winnipeg.”

Finding an owner and an appropriate playing venue are crucial for Winnipeg and any other potential franchise site. Matheson, who hopes to expand to seven or eight teams within two years and have a 12-team league within a decade, said the league plans to have a $1.5-million salary cap with a $50,000 minimum per player.

“We are behind most of the world when it comes to soccer specific infrastructure and in most cases, we got either stuff that’s too small and not quite up to the standards, or way too big,” said Matheson. “I would say that’s the case everywhere, but every ownership group, every team we have is taking both a short term view to that and a long term view.

“Do you have an option to play in year one, two, or three? But also where do you want your long-term home to be. I think that would be the same situation for Winnipeg.”

The 36-year-old Scott, in the midst of the National Women’s Soccer League season with the Kansas City Current, has hinted the 2024 season will be her last as a player.

The midfielder has been Manitoba’s biggest international star since 2010.

“Desi would be an incredible person to be aligned with the club, and I absolutely know she’d be interested,” said Matheson. “She’s the proudest Winnipegger I’ve ever met and would be dedicated to making sure that club was successful. And shorter term, if there’s not a Winnipeg opportunity for her I know she wants to help support the league in any way she can.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca