At the end of August, the Gatorade Company put the finishing touches to a new advertisement to celebrate the unlikely qualification of the Canadian men’s national team for the World Cup in Qatar.
This project was sent to the agent of national team star player Alphonso Davies, Nick Huoseh, for approval. However, Huoseh took Gatorade and Soccer Canada by surprise by informing Canada Soccer’s Marketing Director, Sandra Gage, that no companies other than those with which Davies has personal agreements have permission to use her likeness in a any advertising.
On September 28, Huoseh went further. He informed Fanatics, the largest online seller of licensed sporting goods, that he no longer had permission to sell Davies’ shirt on his own or Canada Soccer’s website. He justified this decision by attesting that no rights to market the image of Davies had been negotiated.
Mr Huoseh said he told Canada Soccer that Mr Davies deserved a share of the profits from the sale of his shirt.
“National team players have never received royalties from jersey sales, and they should,” Huoseh said in an interview with TSN. “We want what is right. »
Although he is negotiating on behalf of Davies alone, Huoseh said he and Davies both support the National Men’s Soccer Team Players Association of Canada, which was recently formed to negotiate a contract with Soccer Canada.
Huoseh isn’t the only one to have said no to Soccer Canada in recent weeks.
The players’ association, which has engaged Carlsbad, Calif.-based sports marketing firm Brevettar to explore licensing possibilities, has also issued a warning to Soccer Canada that sponsors of the federation should not use images of players in advertisements without first negotiating permission.
” It’s tragic. We strangle ourselves. Sponsors pay millions to partner with Soccer Canada and are told they can’t use the most marketable players in their ads. There is a complete collapse of our ecosystem of partners and sponsors…While no one is stepping down just yet, no one is happy about this either,” said a Soccer Canada source.
A battle on many fronts
The association between Soccer Canada and Canada Soccer Business (CSB) remains at the heart of disputes between the federation and its players.
The contract with CSB began to come under scrutiny after sources told TSN that Canada Soccer President Nick Bontis told men’s national team players during a meeting on June 4 in Vancouver that the organization could not afford to pay them the bonus they requested after qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
Bontis reportedly told players he inherited a contract with CSB that siphoned off too much of the federation’s revenue when he was elected as Canada Soccer president in November 2020.
But documents and emails recently obtained by TSN raise questions about Bontis’ involvement in negotiating Canada Soccer’s December 2017 deal with CSB, which is jointly controlled by Canadian Premier League team owners. (PLC). Bontis was a board member and vice-president of Canada Soccer at the time.
The marketing agreement between CSB and Canada Soccer requires CSB to pay a guaranteed fee to Canada Soccer each year between 2019 and 2027 in exchange for the rights to sell broadcast rights and corporate sponsorship for the men’s and women’s national teams.
That fee was $3 million in 2019, according to a copy of the contract obtained by TSN. The guarantee climbs each year, peaking at $3.5 million in 2027.
The contract, signed by Steve Reed, who succeeded Montagliani as president of Canada Soccer from 2017 to 2020, stipulates that CSB has the right to extend the agreement for another 10 years and, if he triggers this extension, must pay Canada Soccer at least $4 million per year from 2028 to 2037.
CSB has the right to retain all revenue from the sale of national team sponsorships and media rights.
