Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment, the rebranded commercial arm of the country’s soccer governing body, has continued its rights spree by adding rights to European soccer’s top-tier UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) club competition to its offering.
Under the agreement, CSME will license the rights to streaming platform OneSoccer, which will provide coverage of the UWCL in Canada for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.
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OneSoccer was established as a joint venture between CSME, then-named Canadian Soccer Business (CBS), and the Mediapro agency, but is now solely operated by CSME after Mediapro departed in 2024.
The platform’s coverage starts with today’s quarterfinals between Germany’s Wolfsburg and France’s OL Lyonnes, while England rivals Arsenal and Chelsea will also face each other.
Tomorrow’s quarterfinals, meanwhile, will see Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona play each other, while England’s Manchester United will face Germany’s Bayern Munich.
The agreement comes as part of CSME’s drive to boost the visibility of its national team players domestically ahead of their participation in the flagship FIFA 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Canadian players have featured across many of the tournament’s top clubs this season, including Olivia Smith (Arsenal), Vanessa Gilles (Bayern München), Kadeisha Buchanan (Chelsea), Jayde Riviere and Simi Awujo (Manchester United), Ashley Lawrence (OL Lyonnes), and Évelyne Viens (AS Roma).
Guy-Laurent, co-managing director of UC3, said: “With Canadian players featuring prominently across many of Europe’s leading clubs, this agreement is an important step in bringing the UWCL closer to Canadian fans, broadening the competition’s international reach, and inspiring even more people to follow and engage with the women’s game.”
James Johnson, Group chief executive of CSME, said: “This agreement represents another step in the expansion of our premium soccer media rights portfolio.
“Our strategy is to bring together the best of Canadian and international soccer under one roof, while making Canadian players more visible and accessible to fans across the country.
“By aligning world-class competitions within a unified ecosystem, we’re not only increasing access to the game, we’re building a platform that puts Canadian players and stories at the centre of the global game.”
The new deal follows CSME securing non-exclusive rights to the North America’s top-tier National Women’s Soccer League for One Soccer to showcase over 20 Canadian players, including national team members Kailen Sheridan, Janine Sonis, Jessie Fleming, Julia Grosso, Jordyn Huitema, Adriana Leon, Nichelle Prince, and Gabrielle Carle.
Other rights held by OneSoccer include Germany’s top-tier Bundesliga, the Concacaf Champions Cup international club competition, the Canadian Premier League top-flight, and the Canadian Championship annual tournament (which also includes Canadian sides from Major League Soccer).
On the national team front, Onesoccer showcases games from both Canada’s men’s and women’s national teams, as well as wider action from the Concacaf Nations League competition.
The new deal comes as CSME attempts to reset its relationship and reputation within Canadian soccer, having agreed a new long-term commercial partnership with Canada Soccer running through 2037 last month, and sees a new revenue-sharing model.
The new deal came after years of pressure and questions about the opaque nature of the pair’s former agreement, which culminated in the Canadian Soccer Players Association union filing a lawsuit against the governing body’s board members and CSME leaders being hauled in front of the Canadian government’s Heritage Committee to explain the deal.
Canada Soccer’s 10-year deal with then-named CBS, a new entity established in March 2018, covered the commercial assets, including sponsorship and broadcast deals, for the national teams through 2028.
Canada Soccer does not hold an ownership stake in CBS but was paid a set amount each year, around $3 million to $4 million, with the rest used by CBS to help fund the growing top-tier Canadian Premier League (CPL).
Following the hearing, the CBS expressed its willingness to amend its deal with Canada Soccer, with CSB’s then-chief executive Mark Noonan saying the company was being proactive in engaging the governing body to renegotiate the contract.
CBS appointed former Football Australia head James Johnson as its new group chief executive in May 2025, to replace outgoing Mark Noonan, who doubled as commissioner of the CPL and chief executive of CSB.
Read more: Deep Dive: CSB looks to reset with Canadian soccer.
