Northern Super League lands C$30M from London PE firm Apex Capital
What's the deal? Canada's Northern Super League (NSL), the country's first professional women's soccer league, is set to announce growth equity funding of up to C$30 million from Apex CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a London- and Portugal-based private equity firm. The deal, revealed just over a year after the league launched, gives Apex a significant minority stake in the league itself.
Why now? The NSL began talks with Apex in autumn 2025, hoping the firm would back its next expansion team. Instead, Apex — which had just launched a $500 million Sports Growth Fund — offered to take a stake in the whole league.
How the money moves: Apex will invest an initial $20 million, with the option to raise its commitment to $30 million. It is the firm's first investment in women's sports, following minority positions in the NFL's flag-football league and a San Francisco TGL golf franchise.
By the numbers: The NSL says it generated more than $30 million in commercial revenue in its first season across ticket sales, merchandise, and sponsorships from partners including Canadian Tire, Bank of MontrealDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, DoorDash, Coca-Cola, and Toyota. Its 80 matches drew more than 275,000 fans, with over 14,000 at the inaugural game in Vancouver.
What's the endgame? The league, which runs a lean head office of about 15 staff, will use the capital to scale fan growth and sponsor development, and may fund its next expansion team. "This is our way of accelerating the sophistication of our league from startup to scale to compete alongside the tier-one professional sports teams faster," said president Christina Litz.
Founders' vision: Co-founded by two-time Olympic bronze medalist Diana Matheson and Thomas Gilbert, the NSL launched in April 2025 with six teams from coast to coast. It has repatriated Canadian-born players who previously lacked professional opportunities at home.
The signal: The investment marks a shift for the NSL from domestic franchise funding to international private capital, entering a market that already shows early revenue and blue-chip sponsorship. "We were very bullish on the particular opportunity within Canada, and within women's sports," said Apex founder Antonio Cacorino — a bet on a global wave of interest in the economics of women's sport.
Read more: HeadTopics · The New York Times
Image credit: Ron Cogswell
