CPL Adds Marni Dicker As Executive Vice President

The Canadian Premier League is adding veteran industry executive Marni Dicker – once hailed as one of Canada’s most powerful women – as its new Executive Vice President, Infrastructure, and Chief Legal Officer.

If that sounds like a wear-a-lot-of-hats roles, that’s because it is.

Dicker will not only oversee the league’s legal affairs while providing counsel for its board, but she’ll also work with commissioner Mark Noonan regarding expansion efforts while spearheading the development of league infrastructure from coast-to-coast. She will also help shape the league’s direction and governance, too.

“We are thrilled to welcome Marni to our senior executive team,” said Noonan, who joined the league last August. “She has demonstrated her leadership capabilities throughout her incredibly accomplished career. She is a builder of things and will be instrumental in helping the CPL, and the sport of soccer in Canada, continue on its rapid growth trajectory.”

One might be surprised to read she’s helped construct two Canadian Premier League stadiums already, but she has – albeit, before the league launched. Dicker had helped negotiate and contract the construction of all 2015 Pan American Games venues for Infrastructure Ontario, which led to both Tim Hortons Field and York Lions Stadium being built.

Flashback: How A Contract For Tim Horton’s Field Helped Launch The CPL

“A stadium is just a building until it becomes part of a community that understands and appreciates its value,” says Dicker. “I look forward to working with existing and future CPL clubs and markets to build infrastructure that will not only fulfill the need for more places to play soccer at every level in this country but will also play an important role as a point of connection within the communities we serve.”

Marni most recently worked Live Work Lean Play Inc, where she served as the group’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel, helping procure the first private Go Station. Her past work has seen her conceptualize and develop large mixed-use communities.

She has served on a variety of boards, including the Tarion Warranty Corporation, CreateTO, and the Technical Standards Safety Authority (Ontario), while previously serving on the boards of Habitat for Humanity GTA, Women’s Law Association Ontario, WireIE, and SNC-Lavalin Operations and Maintenance.

Now shifting focus to the Canadian soccer landscape, she’s keen to incorporate her infrastructure knowledge into a league that needs to work smartly for its markets – especially after what happened to FC Edmonton.

“I am passionate about sport and the critical role it plays in bringing people together in our society and across our country,” sys Dicker. “I look forward to making my experience as an innovative strategic thinker and key relationship builder work for the league, as I push for continued growth of the game of soccer from coast-to-coast.”

The Canadian Premier League has publicly awarded expansion rights to Saskatoon and Windsor, though one is in the middle of a lawsuit and the other is awaiting a permanent stadium plan. The league has quietly staked claim in Kelowna, too.

Dicker hopes to bring diverse perspectives into the league office to help the fledgling league retain top talent. Behind the scenes there’s been plenty of year-over-year turnover in CPL headquarters, something that one of Canada’s most influential lawyers now hopes to change.

With the league now formally recognizing a players’ union and expanding its salary cap ahead of the 2023 CPL season – and with a big boost of coverage expected when Canada helps host the FIFA Men’s World Cup in a few years’ time, too – there’s a lot of work to do to to ensure the league has the right infrastructure in place ahead of time.

Luckily, this isn’t Dicker’s first rodeo.