Involved in Canadian sports marketing for the last 20 years and with a background with the Canadian Soccer Association, Sandra Gage was named the chief marketing and communications officer for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 tournament. Responsible for oversight of marketing, communications and ticketing for the event, Gage spoke with SportsBusiness Journal’s Ian Thomas about the country’s preparation for the global spotlight.
■ How would you describe the enthusiasm in Canada for the Women’s World Cup?
GAGE: This will be the first time a competition in this country will be held from coast-to-coast, so that by itself is helping to unite the country. Furthermore, our women’s team frequently outdraws our men’s team, so there is a lot of support for these particular players.
The 2012 Summer Olympics was a big moment for our team. One out of every three Canadians watched the semifinal match versus the U.S. Aside from the men’s hockey gold medal match in Vancouver, that is one of the country’s highest Olympic broadcasts.
Needless to say, we’re excited.
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Sandra Gage oversees marketing and ticketing for the event.
Photo by: Getty Images |
■ Canada also hosted the 2014 U-20 Women’s World Cup. What did the Canadian Soccer Association take away from that tournament to better improve for the larger scope of the Women’s World Cup?
GAGE: Perhaps our biggest learning came in regards to transportation. We had some experiences that taught us how we could do things to remedy the distances between the matches. We were sure to design this tournament schedule with that in mind, and that’s part of the reason why each team starts off with two matches in the same city, to reduce travel of the team, equipment and fans.
■ How is the Canadian media reacting to the country hosting this tournament?
GAGE: Similar to Fox Sports in the U.S., we’re lucky here in Canada to have a strong media rights licensee in TSN who is making a massive investment in the sport. With the games being played in five different time zones, there are challenges to build a broadcast schedule that works well for the whole country, but we feel it will be very successful.
There have been a number of television programs devoted to discussing the team, and TSN is airing an hourlong documentary on the team and its players. This isn’t something we’ve seen before, and it’s helped the team become very much so water cooler talk here in Canada.
■ Do you expect any further criticism stemming from the Canadian Soccer Association’s decision to use artificial turf fields for this Women’s World Cup?
GAGE: From our perspective, absolutely not. At the end of the day, we’ve worked extensively to make sure those playing fields are top quality for the players, and we stand by that decision. In Canada, it was not a public image concern for the CSA — everyone in our country understands that fields in our country are multipurpose.
■ Given the allegations being currently held against FIFA, are there any concerns over Canadian support of the tournament?
GAGE: We haven’t seen anything negative, and don’t expect to. FIFA has been supporting the women’s game for nearly 30 years and were a wonderful organization to work with.
