Mark Noonan (born 1965) is an American sports executive who serves as commissioner of the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

(CPL) and CEO of Canada Soccer Business. Previously Noonan held marketing executive positions with the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

as well as serving as CEO of

Accra Hearts of Oak Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports club based in Accra (Greater Accra), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving football club in Ghana and its trad ...

, a Ghanaian soccer club. Noonan attended

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

and was a member of the Blue Devils' 1986 national championship winning soccer team.

Professional career

In the late 1990s, Mark Noonan was the chief marketing officer of the

. During that time, the United States hosted the

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

which set various records for attendance. Noonan later worked for

during a period of volatility for the league. Due to financial losses, MLS contracted by two teams in 2002 and reorganized the league into two conferences. In 2005, Noonan founded FocalSport – a sports and entertainment

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

. In 2018, Noonan became CEO of

Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports club based in Accra (Greater Accra), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving football club in Ghana and its trad ...

of the

Ghana Premier League The is the top professional association football division of the football league system in Ghana. Officially formed in 1956 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition (which began in 1933 and ended in 1953–54), t ...

. The one-time

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

winning club had struggled on the field in the 2010s and lacked a permanent training facility. During his tenure, Noonan was responsible for the rebranding of the club's crest and securing a kit sponsorship deal with

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are marketed in over 100 c ...

. In 2019, Noonan left his position after only one year.

Canadian Premier League

On August 25, 2022, the

announced that Mark Noonan would be the league's next commissioner, replacing David Clanachan who had resigned in January. Noonan began his term on September 1 as both CPL commissioner and CEO of Canada Soccer Business. He plans to grow the existing men's league and launch a women's league before the

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three No ...

which will be co-hosted by Canada. On November 21, 2022, Mark Noonan announced that

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to 2017. The club went on hiatus when NASL ceased competitive operat ...

would not be returning to play in 2023 and that the operating rights had been revoked from the team's owner. FC Edmonton became the first CPL team to cease operations which they did after years of struggles on and off the pitch. The CPL voluntarily recognized the Professional Footballers Association of Canada as the labor union for CPL players on December 20, 2022. PFA Canada had been seeking recognition since their formation in 2020.

References

External links

FocalSport bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noonan, Mark 1965 births Living people People from Westport, Connecticut Soccer players from Connecticut American men's soccer players Duke Blue Devils men's soccer players American soccer executives United States Soccer Federation officials Major League Soccer executives World Surf League Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. non-playing staff Canadian Premier League executives Men's association football players not categorized by position