Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes the manner in which the Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment and its affiliates (collectively, the “Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment”, “we”, “our” and “us”) use information in operating our websites, our mobile and other apps, and any other online service that displays or provides an authorized link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Services”).

The official sites of the Member Clubs of the Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment are part of the cansme.ca website and are governed by this Privacy Policy.

By using our Services, you accept all of the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy and consent to the practices described herein. In particular, by submitting your personal data to us, you will be deemed to have given your permission for the use and disclosures referred to herein.

Collection and Use of Personal Information

The Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment’s collection and processing of the personal information of users takes place under limited circumstances and at specific times, including during registration for our various personalized e-mail services and participation in various online contests. The user information collected by the Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment may include both: (i) personal information directly provided by users, such as a user’s name, postal address, e-mail and other personal information collected through online forms, as well as (ii) the automatic collection by cookies, web beacons and other technologies of certain information, such as log information (i.e., your Internet Protocol address) and device information (i.e., device identifiers which may be unique to your device).

Neither the Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment nor its affiliates use personal information for any other purpose than providing and facilitating the provision of Services, improving our operation and Services, providing effective advertising, or as otherwise described to you at the point of collection and pursuant to your consent. Specific examples of these permitted uses include:
• providing you with the products, promotions, services, newsletters, and information you request and responding to correspondence that we receive from you;
• contacting you via email and otherwise about your account, products, services, contests, and events that we think might be of interest to you;
• sending you promotional material or special offers on our behalf or on behalf of our marketing partners and/or their respective affiliates and other third parties;
• maintaining or administering the Services, performing business analyses, or for other internal purposes to improve the quality of our business, the Services, and other products and services we offer; and
• customizing and personalizing your use of the Services.
Persons aged thirteen (13) or under shall not be permitted to become registered users of this site. The Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment does not intentionally collect, use or disclose personal information of persons under the age of 13 years old except as permitted by applicable law. If we discover that we have collected personal information from a person under the age of 13 years old other than as permitted by applicable law, we will forthwith delete the relevant information.

Disclosure of Personal Information

We will not disclose, trade, rent, sell or otherwise transfer personal information to parties outside of the Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment without your explicit prior consent, except as otherwise set out herein.
We may transfer or disclose personal information as follows:

• Service Provider Arrangements: In connection with the provision of our Services, we may disclose (or otherwise make available) personal information to third parties who provide Services on our behalf. For example, we may use service providers to process payments, host our website and store information on our behalf. Personal information may be maintained and processed by third party service providers in Canada and may be accessed by the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities as required under the laws of this jurisdiction. Our service providers are given the information they need to perform their designated functions, and we do not authorize them to use or disclose personal information for their own marketing or other purposes.

• Member Clubs: We may share your information with representatives of Member Clubs, each of whom is governed by this Privacy Policy.

• Select Business Partners and Third Parties: We may share your information with select business partners that are not service providers, such as our sponsors and broadcast partners, and/or other third parties from time to time, so that they can provide you with special offers, promotional materials, and other materials that may be of interest to you. If you do not elect to have your information shared, it will not be shared with such third parties. We take measures to help ensure that our partners protect the confidentiality, integrity, and security of any information we share with them. However, we are not responsible for the privacy practices of our business partners, which may use your information for their own purposes.

• Third-Party Ad Serving and Audience and Traffic Measurement Services: Some of the content, advertising and functionality on our Services may be provided by third parties that are not affiliated with us. For example:

  • content providers, which may operate contests, sweepstakes, fantasy or interactive games or public forums on our Services;

  • retail and other companies that may process transactions, provide customer service, and perform other related functions;

  • advertising providers, which may help us and our advertisers provide ads (on our Services or elsewhere online) that are tailored to users’ interests and understand users’ response to those ads;

  • audience-measurement companies, which help us measure the overall usage of our Services and compare that usage to other online services; and

  • social networking services, which enable you to log in to certain of our Services, to comment on content available on our Services, and to share things you find on our Services with your social network.

• Sale of Business: The Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment may transfer personal information as an asset in connection with a merger or sale (including transfers made as part of an insolvency or bankruptcy proceeding) involving all or part of the Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment or as part of a corporate reorganization or other change in corporate control.

• Legal: The Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment and our affiliates and service providers may disclose personal information to third parties as required or permitted by applicable law. For greater certainty, we may disclose your information to third parties in order to: (i) protect the legal rights, safety, and security of the Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment, our affiliates, subsidiaries, business partners and the users of our Services; (ii) respond to and resolve claims or complaints; (iii) prevent fraud or for risk management purposes; and (iv) comply with or respond to law enforcement or legal process or a request for cooperation by a government, regulatory or other entity, whether or not legally required. Where a disclosure of our users’ personal information is required by applicable law, we will endeavour to notify the affected user(s) prior to complying with such requirements (to the extent we are not prohibited from doing so).

Information about Our Services

As you access our Services, certain information may be passively collected by cookies, navigational data like Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and third party tracking services, including:

• Activity Information: We may keep track of some of the actions you take on the website, such as the content of searches you perform on the website, solely for the purpose of internal evaluation of website effectiveness. This information will not be shared with third parties.

• Cookies: We may use cookies and other local storage technologies for a variety of purposes, such as analyzing trends, administering the Services, analyzing how users interact with the Services, and gathering demographic information. By using the Services, you consent to our use of cookies and similar technologies. For more information, please see “Cookies, Web Beacons and Other Technologies” below.

• Third Party Links: Our website may contain links to other websites or platforms that the Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment does not own or operate. Also, links to our website may be featured on third party websites or platforms on which we advertise. Except as provided in this Privacy Policy, we will not provide your personal information to these third parties without your consent. We may provide links to third party websites or platforms as a convenience to the user. These links are not intended as an endorsement of or referral to the linked websites or platforms. The linked websites or platforms have separate and independent privacy statements, notices and terms of use, unless otherwise stated. We do not have any control over such websites or platforms, and therefore we have no responsibility or liability for the manner in which the organizations that operate such linked websites or platforms may collect, use or disclose, secure and otherwise treat personal information.

Cookies, Web Beacons and Other Technologies

Our Services may use online technologies called “cookies” and “web beacons”, as well as other local storage technologies. This section explains what these technologies are and how they may be used.

Cookies and Other Local Storage Technologies

Generally speaking, “cookies” are text files that are placed in your device’s browser, and that can be used to help recognize your browser across different web pages, websites and browsing sessions. They are saved, either temporarily or permanently, on your hard drive, leaving a trace of your passage. The information can include such things as the date and time of your last visit, a given answer to an online question, personal information, etc. Cookies can also enhance your web experience by recording your navigation preferences for a given website.

Your browser or device may offer settings related to cookies. For example, you may be able to configure your browser not to accept cookies or to notify you when a cookie is being sent. However, if you decide not to accept cookies from us, you may not be able to take advantage of all of the features of our Services. For more information about whether these settings are available, what they do, and how they work, visit your browser or device’s help material.

Web Beacons

Web beacons are small pieces of code placed on web pages, in videos and in emails that can communicate information about your browser and device to a server. Beacons can be used, among other things, to count the users who visit a web page or read an email, or to deliver a cookie to the browser of a user viewing a Web page or email.

Security of Personal Information

We understand that data security is a critical issue for our users and we are committed to safeguarding the personal information in our custody and under our control.

The Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment has implemented reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards in an effort to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification and disclosure of personal information in our custody and control. However, please note that no data transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your information and privacy, we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant the security of any information you disclose or transmit to our Services and cannot be responsible for the theft, destruction or inadvertent disclosure of your information, or any other disclosures out of our control.

Your online access to some of your information may be protected with a password that you select. We strongly recommend that you select a unique password that is difficult to guess and that you do not disclose your password to anyone. We will never ask you for your password in any unsolicited communication (such as letters, phone calls, or email messages).

Our privacy practices are intended to comply with applicable privacy laws, including, without limitation, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada) (“PIPEDA”). We will maintain the privacy of your personal information as required by applicable privacy laws, including PIPEDA and the regulations promulgated thereunder. To the extent anything contained in this Privacy Policy conflicts with PIPEDA or other applicable privacy legislation, the terms of this Privacy Policy shall be deemed to be reformed to align with such legislation.

Opting-out

Users may opt-out of providing personal information and from receiving information on Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment updates and new services, as well as direct email offers from selected Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment partners and sponsors. [**This is done at the point of initial collection of information and during the editing or updating process.**] The process to opt out of most Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment email materials may be found in the easy-to-follow unsubscribe directions posted at the bottom of such emails.

De-Identified Information

We may use de-identified information created by us from your personal information without restriction.

Data Retention

We will retain your information for as long [as your account is active,] as needed to provide you the Services, and as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated periodically to reflect changes to our personal information practices and/or the laws applicable to same. The revised Privacy Policy will be posted on the website. If we make any substantial changes to this Privacy Policy and the way in which we use your personal data, we will post these changes on this page and will do our best to notify you of any significant changes. Please check our Privacy Policy on a regular basis.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the privacy practices of the Services, please contact us [by emailing Media@cansme.ca or write to us] at:

The Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment
204 King Street East, Suite 102
Toronto, ON M5A 1J5

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Costa Smyrniotis

Costa Smyrniotis is a senior Canadian soccer executive with more than 20 years of experience across the professional, developmental, and commercial sides of the game in Canada and internationally. His career spans league governance, club operations, player representation, and academy leadership, giving him a comprehensive understanding of the soccer ecosystem.

As Executive Vice President of the Canadian Premier League, Smyrniotis oversees sporting and business operations across Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment’s league portfolio, including the CPL and Premier Soccer Leagues Canada, the umbrella organization for Canada’s national pro-am competitions.

Previously, he served as Executive Vice President, Soccer, helping professionalize the league’s on-field product and strengthen its reputation in the global transfer market, increasing player movement and international recognition.

Prior to his league role, Smyrniotis spent five years as Director of Football and Business at Forge FC, building one of Canada’s most successful professional clubs. Earlier, he co-founded Sigma FC, built a leading player agency, and held senior business roles with multinational organizations.

Laura Armstrong

Laura Armstrong is Vice President, Communications & Business Integration at Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment, where she leads strategic communications, public relations, and key stakeholder engagement across the company’s corporate functions, leagues, and media assets.

In this role, Laura works closely with executive leadership to align organizational strategy and priorities, supporting the delivery of the company’s long-term vision through coordinated planning and execution across teams.

Prior to joining CSME, Laura spent nearly a decade as a journalist with the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper, where she led the paper’s soccer coverage beginning in 2015. A leading voice in Canadian soccer — particularly in the women’s game — she covered major milestones including the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Toronto FC’s treble-winning 2017 season, and Canada’s men’s national team qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Laura regularly appeared across national and international broadcast platforms including OneSoccer, Sportsnet, CBC, CTV, the BBC and more

A bilingual native of Barrhaven, Ont., Laura holds a combined honours degree in Journalism and English Literature from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Dylan Hewko

Dylan Hewko is a finance executive with extensive experience in professional sports, specializing in financial strategy, governance, and organizational oversight. He currently serves as Senior Vice President, Finance, supporting the continued growth and financial stewardship of Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment.

In this corporate leadership role, Dylan is responsible for financial planning, reporting, and governance, as well as people operations and organizational policies, supporting the company’s overall business objectives across its leagues and properties.

Prior to joining the Canadian Premier League in 2021, Dylan spent three years with New York City FC as Controller and held finance roles with the Toronto Blue Jays. He began his professional career at Deloitte Canada in the Assurance & Advisory practice, building a strong foundation in corporate accounting and financial management.

A graduate of Queen’s University, Dylan holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and a Graduate Diploma in Accounting, and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (Canada) and Certified Public Accountant (USA). He has long been engaged in the intersection of sport and business, including through leadership roles with the Queen’s Sports Industry Conference.

Marni Dicker

Marni Dicker is a senior executive and governance leader with deep experience in corporate law, infrastructure development, and organizational leadership across complex public- and private-sector environments.

In her dual role as Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President, Infrastructure, Marni oversees legal strategy, corporate governance, risk management, and compliance, while also leading infrastructure planning and expansion strategy and execution for the Canadian Premier League.

Her career includes senior roles such as Chief Commercial Officer and General Counsel at Infrastructure Ontario, where she led legal and commercial oversight for major infrastructure and venue development projects, including facilities for the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. She has also served as Executive Vice President at Live Work Learn Play Inc. and held board positions with organizations including CreateTO, Tarion, and Habitat for Humanity GTA.

A nationally recognized leader, Marni has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women and one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers. Her honours include the Canadian General Counsel Award for Business Achievement and induction into the Urban Land Institute’s Hall of Champions. She lectures at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Law and holds degrees from Western and McGill, along with the ICD.D designation. Marni is a proud wife and mother of two.

Shaun Guest

Shaun Guest is a senior sports business executive with more than a decade of experience driving commercial growth through sponsorships, partnerships, and revenue strategy. He currently serves as Vice President, Commercial Operations, working within the commercial leadership team to support partner growth across Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment and its properties.

In his role, Shaun leads corporate partnerships and sponsorship initiatives, while also overseeing ticketing, and licensing operations. He works closely with internal teams and external partners to deliver integrated commercial programs that support long-term business objectives.

Prior to joining CSME, Shaun served as Vice President, Business Operations for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Forge FC, where he played a key role in Forge FC’s launch and oversaw corporate partnerships, ticket sales, community engagement, and marketing initiatives.

Earlier in his career, Shaun held roles with the 2007 Grey Cup Festival and the Toronto Rock, building a strong foundation in ticket sales, sponsorship development and revenue generation across multiple sports and event platforms. He is a graduate of Brock University’s Sport Management program and holds a Master’s degree in Sport & Leisure Commerce from the University of Memphis.

Michael Beckerman

Michael Beckerman is a seasoned marketing and business leader with more than two decades of global experience across sports, media, and consumer brands. He brings a strategic, partner-first approach to growing audiences, brands, and commercial impact within the soccer ecosystem.

Beckerman’s career spans three continents and includes senior leadership roles as Director of Advertising for Nike Europe, Vice President of Marketing at Canadian Airlines, Chief Marketing Officer at the Bank of Montreal, and CEO of sponsorship agency MKTG Canada. He also led Ariad Communications, an award-winning marketing and digital agency, and most recently served as Chief Client Officer at Torstar Corporation.

A recognized voice in sponsorship and brand strategy, Beckerman is a frequent speaker on marketing trends, consumer engagement, and the evolving business of sport.

At CSME, Mike leads partner strategy, helping organizations — including Canada Soccer, the Canadian Premier League, Premier Soccer Leagues Canada, OneSoccer, and other media and properties — connect meaningfully with fans to achieve their business objectives while advancing the growth of soccer in Canada.

James Johnson 

James Johnson is a globally recognized sport and entertainment executive with more than two decades of leadership experience across North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. He was appointed Group CEO of Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment (CSME) and Commissioner of the Canadian Premier League in July 2025 to accelerate the growth and transformation of Canadian soccer ahead of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.

Johnson previously served as CEO of Football Australia, leading a period of transformation marked by record commercial growth, strong national team performance, increased participation, and the successful hosting of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The tournament delivered a lasting legacy, unlocking $389 million in government investment to support the sport’s growth in Australia. He also secured record broadcast agreements with Paramount+, Disney+, and Fox Sports.

His career includes senior executive roles with FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and City Football Group, where he built a reputation as a commercially driven, innovative leader advancing sport on and off the pitch.

Johnson leads the group’s overall strategic direction, aligning commercial growth, media innovation, and sporting performance to strengthen the business of Canadian soccer. He serves on the board of OneSoccer.