Roger Hampel
Interview Guests: Henning Bindzus and Josh Simpson
Josh Simpson is Partner and Lead Investor at SixFive Sports & Entertainment, President and Co-Owner of the Canadian Premier League club Pacific FC, and a former international football professional. He played for clubs such as Millwall FC in England, 1. FC Kaiserslautern in Germany, Manisaspor in Turkey, and Young Boys Bern in Switzerland. Additionally, he represented his national team, Canada, in 44 international matches.
In 2019, he established his Club, Pacific FC, in the Greater Vancouver Area and became one of the founding members of the Canadian Premier League (CPL). He remains one of the driving forces behind pushing the CPL to the next level. Together with Henning Bindzus, Founder and Chief Sports Business Advisor of THINK ABOUT SPORTS, and the Top-Management of VfL Bochum he established the first club partnership of a CPL- and a Bundesliga club in May 2024.
Roger Hampel (Football Business Journal): Josh and Henning, thank you for taking the time for an interview with Football Business Journal. Josh Simpson Henning Bindzus Canadian Premier League
Josh Simpson: Thank you for having us.
Henning Bindzus: Thank you for the invitation.
Roger Hampel: Josh, you were a successful player and now you are a club owner. How did this journey take shape?
Josh Simpson: Yes, this is a great journey. Even during my career on the field, I was intensely interested in business off the field. It wasn’t just about sports, so I had the idea to explore various industries like real estate, gain a holistic view and deepen my understanding of economics. Of course, football has always been my lifelong passion, so my eyes were always open for opportunities within this context. Since the idea and concept of our own domestic league in Canada began, I have seen a huge opportunity in it. So, together with my partners at SixFive Sports & Entertainment, Rob Friend and Dean Shillington, we’ve worked to be part of this journey from the very beginning and to become club owners.
Roger Hampel: Now entering its sixth season since the inaugural match, the Canadian Premier League still remains a young league. What key milestones has it reached so far?
Josh Simpson: Absolutely, the CPL is a very young League compared to others in Europe , and even in the US. We are constantly in a period of growth, though the clubs are already established in their communities and have a deep social impact. The fan bases are getting bigger and more dynamic each season, the media consumptions are also rising and new partners are joining all the time.
We initially invested in the League with a belief that Canada has immense underrealized football talent, both home and abroad. We also believe Canada is a welcoming and productive place – yet untapped – to develop this type of athletic talent to higher levels. We’re not alone. We’ve already attracted significant investment, sponsorship and transfer interest abroad. Spanish giants, Atlético Madrid bought expansion rights in 2020 to set up Atlético Ottawa.
The League has attracted the likes of CIBC, Volkswagen, Degree, TikTok, Telus and Carlsberg as partners. And we’ve seen increased interest from higher Leagues in Europe and North America in our players, with transfer values rising each sale from talent we’ve nurtured. Forge FC’s recent transfer of 21-year-old Kwasi Poku to Rwd Molenbeek for an undisclosed fee plus add-ons set a league record and suggests this trajectory will continue as our profile rises.
To summarize, the development is even better than we expected in the beginning and it’s our claim to pursue this as we head into our country’s FIFA World Cup years.
Pacific FC vs. Valour | Photo Credit: Sheldon Mack (Pacific FC)
Roger Hampel: The CPL is based on a franchise system, like the Major League Soccer. What are the main characteristics of the league?
Josh Simpson: That’s right! The CPL – like the MLS - is structured similar to a single-entity League overseen by a Commissioner, with franchises granted to select investors or organizations. While clubs are owned and operated by franchisees, and the clubs own their own players, the League maintains oversight in key areas like player contracts, commercial rights, national sponsorships, and certain operations. This reduces the financial risk for individual club owners, ensuring everything is managed under a consistent framework that promotes long-term sustainability and parity. Owners must balance the needs of their own clubs with the broader health of the league when making decisions, rather than adopting a zero-sum mindset. In return, they gain access to shared knowledge and resources that help grow their businesses. As an emerging football nation, we felt this was the right approach to grow country-wide demand and talent pathways.
Currently, the CPL consists of eight clubs, each playing a 28-match regular season followed by playoffs to crown champions for each. Like MLS, the CPL operates under a salary cap, though it’s more conservative at this stage. What sets the CPL apart is its strong focus on developing Canadian players, especially younger and underrealized talent. To support this goal, the league limits the number of international players a club can sign and field on matchday. There’s also a college draft and a substantial U-21 playing minute requirement each season. As a single-nation league aiming to bring top Canadian men’s soccer to new markets, the CPL can hyper-focus its community engagement efforts, creating deep connections with local people and places. Being a relatively new league also allows for flexibility in season formats and innovative approaches to growing the game, making it an exciting league to follow as it evolves each season!
Roger Hampel: As President and Co-Owner of Pacific FC, what goals are you aiming to achieve with the club?
Josh Simpson: Here, we also aim to achieve positive development, both on and off the pitch. In the 2021 season, we were the League champions, which was an outstanding success in our early history. At the same time, we are driving economic development, growing our fan and partner communities, and enhancing our communications. We want to be a modern football organization and community asset with a strong, local identity and talent the Island can be proud to support. We believe we can do this while competing regularly in CONCACAF and as League winners.
Pacific FC vs. HFX Wanderers | Photo Credit: Sheldon Mack (Pacific FC)
Roger Hampel: This May, Pacific FC announced a partnership with VfL Bochum, marking the first collaboration between a Canadian Premier League club and a German Bundesliga team. What was the reaction to this announcement?
Josh Simpson: First of all, we are very pleased that the partnership has come to life. It has been developed collaboratively and holistically over a longer period, and we’re convinced that all parties involved can benefit greatly from it. We will support each other’s development in many areas, both in technical, football-related matters and on the business end. When we announced this partnership, we received a lot of positive feedback. Being in the company of such an established team in one of the most highly regarded Leagues in the world speaks to the immense potential of Pacific FC and the CPL. The news garnered attention both from clubs within our league and various stakeholders internationally, due to its novelty and strategic value.
Tim Jost (Director of Marketing & Sales at VfL Bochum), Henning Bindzus, Josh Simpson and Ilja Kaenzig (CEO of VfL Bochum) | Photo credit: VfL Bochum
Roger Hampel: Henning, you played a key role in developing this partnership and have also launched additional international strategies and collaborations for football clubs. How does this process work?
Henning Bindzus: First of all, it is important that each club needs a very individual strategy to be successful in the international context. We aim to make business decisions with long-term goals and needs in mind, and to be selective about who we partner to ensure we aren’t overstretched and that we are creating mutual benefit. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Each club has its own goals, priorities, and resources. From this, the guidelines or framework can be defined.
Fundamentally, I see great opportunities in internationalization and international club partnerships to, among other things, gain knowledge transfer, open up new business areas, and foster economic collaborations. As clubs expand into international markets, they could attract global brands seeking visibility in new regions. These expanded markets provide clubs with opportunities to secure sponsorship deals tailored to specific geographies. Clubs can also offer brands targeted exposure in international markets, such as regional sponsorships or special media campaigns aimed at local audiences.
Furthermore, internationalization strengthens the club’s brand, expands the fan base through global fan activations and localized fan experiences, and generates valuable communicative content. As part of global content strategies, clubs can use digital platforms to create content for international audiences, adapting communication styles, languages, and cultural references to resonate with different markets. Leveraging social media, streaming services, and localized apps can greatly enhance engagement.
It is important to emphasize that clubs can increase their competitiveness in the domestic market through internationalization. Of course, there are also great opportunities for talent development. However, we need to adopt an ecosystem mindset, considering how a new partnership can add exponential value across various entities.
Photo Credit: Vfl Bochum
Roger Hampel: But the benefits extend beyond the clubs themselves, don’t they?
Henning Bindzus: You're absolutely right. The respective leagues, media, and corporate partners of the clubs can also benefit directly. This is why leagues, in particular, often have an interest in clubs pursuing internationalization, as it strengthens their own position in the international context, for example in media tenders. As a result, some leagues actively support their clubs economically or through their own initiatives and promote them in the process of internationalization.
Roger Hampel: Given this context, what makes Canada an appealing market for clubs, especially European ones?
Henning Bindzus: Josh and I speak about this frequently, and I am impressed how the Canadian Premier League has developed in such a short time, as well as the potential that still exists. The recent tournament results demonstrate the high sporting quality, and interest in football continues to grow, especially among young people. The country is vast and a growth market that can be economically very interesting for foreign football clubs. At the same time, there is a strong cultural connection to Europe. The clubs are young, set up in a very modern way, and can act quickly. Football in Canada will continue to grow sustainably, and European clubs can also benefit from this.
Photo Credit: Sheldon Mack (Pacific FC)
Roger Hampel: Both the league and the clubs place great emphasis on sustainability and take on social responsibility. How were these values so deeply embedded?
Josh Simpson: Our goal is to consistently deliver added value to local markets through our clubs and the league. We want to be assured that our communities, not just players and fans, are better off because we’re there. And we started this club in part because we felt football had so much more to contribute to society; it’s a uniquely powerful cultural force that can shift hearts and minds! Because we’re still relatively small and nimble, we’re able to partner and embed ourselves deeply in our region to help address pressing issues – like youth mental ill-health – alongside and through playing football.
We actively promote togetherness, support children and young people with various programs, and the ecological aspect is also very important to us with our brand centered around the Pacific coast geography. In summary, we follow the "Net Positive" approach described by Paul Polman and Andrew Winston in their book. Values such as equality, diversity, and holistic sustainability are part of our core identity, and the league has impressively encapsulated this with the slogan "WE ARE MANY. WE ARE ONE." Everyone who feels addressed by this is warmly invited to join our football movement.
Photo Credit: Sheldon Mack (Pacific FC)
Roger Hampel: With the FIFA World Cup coming to Canada in 2026, how do you expect the tournament to shape Canadian football?
Josh Simpson: Without a doubt, the World Cup will give a tremendous boost to Canadian football. There have been several examples of countries leveraging hosting a World Cup to catalyze the growth of the game domestically, boosting participation from grassroots to professional, improving infrastructures and increasing overall interest that sustains well beyond the event. The US in ‘94 and Japan/ South Korea in ‘02 are just two examples. We plan to do the same, and Pacific FC should benefit from Vancouver and the province of BC being a hosting site.
Our own men’s national team becoming increasingly competitive on the international stage will help too as they participate in their third-ever World Cup. They’ll give our fans something to rally behind, and create magnetic stories to follow. You can’t underestimate the power of emotion behind a global sporting event of this magnitude, and the teams that bring it to life! The team hinted at this already when they demonstrated their quality during the Copa América this year, as well as during the Qatar World Cup qualifications. The women’s team has been doing this for years too, of course. Canada’s football profile on the global stage is on the rise.
Roger Hampel: With the league structured as a franchise model, do you expect it to expand, attracting additional investors?
Josh Simpson: Such matters must, of course, be treated with great confidentiality, but I can say that some major sports investors see significant potential in the CPL. Our Commissioner, Mark Noonan, recently mentioned in an interview that the number of clubs in the League is expected to double within the next eight to ten years. This represents a clear growth trajectory, and there is a great deal of confidence in the league. The recent sale of York United to Game Plan Sports group out of Mexico shows there is interest abroad too. The opportunities in Canadian football are enormous, and it feels like we are still in a kind of a start-up phase.
Roger Hampel: We will continue to closely monitor the developments in Canadian football and keep our fingers crossed. Thank you for the interview!
Henning Bindzus: It was a pleasure. Thank you.
Josh Simpson: Thank you for your interest! We’ll stay in touch.
Comments