TORONTO — The Canadian Premier League has signed a long-term apparel deal with Macron.
The Italian company will provide playing kit and training gear for all seven CPL clubs — HFX Wanderers FC (Halifax), York 9 FC (north Toronto), Forge FC (Hamilton), Valour FC (Winnipeg), FC Edmonton, Cavalry FC (Calgary) and Pacific FC (Victoria) — when the new league kicks off next spring.
Macron, whose slogan is "Work hard. Play Harder," already supplies such clubs as Italy's Bologna FC and Lazio, Portugal's Sporting Lisbon, Spain's Real Sociedad and England's Nottingham Forest and Stoke City.
Scott Mitchell, CEO of Canadian Soccer Business which represents the Canadian Soccer Association and other domestic soccer properties, said more than a dozen brands around the world showed interest in the new league.
"Macron became very visible early on," Mitchell said in an interview.
"And there seemed to be an alignment with what their business goals were — they've certainly become an increasingly powerful brand in Europe but wanted to have a North American presence and in particular wanted to see if the Canadian market was a great way for them to start in the North American market."
Mitchell called Macron a high-quality manufacturer known for its ability to customize gear.
"I think fans are going to be truly astounded by some of the neat work that's happened." said Mitchell.
All the CPL teams have had representatives in Bologna recently to go over the playing gear.
"We're thrilled to be entering into a market so receptive to soccer, and also because the deal with the CPL allows our team to work on a long-term basis on the development of new collections that we hope the players and fans will wear with pride," Macron CEO Gianluca Pavanello said in a release.
The CPL is currently holding open tryouts across Canada.
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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
