Paul Beirne (born April 16, 1966) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

sports executive, who is currently the Managing Director of

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 2 ...

. He has also worked with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

and the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

of Major League Soccer, and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

Career

Toronto Raptors

Beirne was appointed as

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of ticketing for the

of the

in August 1994. He spent two years in the role before being promoted within

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

Toronto Maple Leafs

In September 1996, he became

of servicing for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment after two years – working with both the

and the

. In 10 years with the team, Beirne handled all aspects of service, renewals, season tickets, group sales and single tickets for the Raptors and the Maple Leafs.

Toronto FC

In February 2006, Beirne became the first employee of Major League Soccer club

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

for business operations. He was responsible for the launch and management of the team, overseeing brand development, positioning and launching. In April 2007, Beirne oversaw the opening of

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former ...

, and he later sold out international friendlies against Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers, Benfica, Indepentiente, River Plate and

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...

. Later that year, he was awarded the Doug Hamilton Executive of the Year. In August 2008, he organised the

2008 MLS All-Star Game The 2008 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 13th annual MLS All-Star Game. The MLS All-Stars faced West Ham United of the English Premier League. The game was played on July 24, 2008, with the MLS winning 3–2. New England Revolution coac ...

against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, and in August 2009, sold Canada's highest grossing soccer game when Toronto hosted Real Madrid. Beirne later oversaw the design, acquisition and construction of Toronto's training ground for the senior and

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

teams. He was part of the local organizing committee for the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, and was appointed to MLS Technical Committee in 2008 and MLS Business Committee a year later.

Ottawa Senators

In November 2013, Beirne was hired as

for sales and service for

club

Brighton & Hove Albion

In April 2014, Beirne moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to become the Head of Commercial Development at

club

. He focused on managing and growing all commercial revenue for the club, community and charity. During his time at the club, Brighton were named finalists in four categories for the Football Business Awards – Best matchday experience, best fan engagement by a club, best marketing of a football club, and best non-matchday use of a venue. Beirne left the club after two seasons to return to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in July 2016.

Canadian Premier League

In August 2016, Beirne was named as the first employee of the

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

. In the temporary role of project manager, he spent 18 months developing the league and working with several emerging supporters groups. On January 23, 2018, it was announced that Beirne had been appointed as the league's first

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. He would handle the day-to-day league operations and focus on ensuring a successful launch in April 2019.

Pacific FC

In August 2022, Beirne was named as the Managing Director of

Honors

* Doug Hamilton Executive of the Year: 2007

Personal life

Beirne graduated from

Neil McNeil High School Neil McNeil Catholic High School is an all-boys Roman Catholic secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Neil McNeil, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from ...

in 1984, and studied at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

between 1986 and 1990. He is married and lives in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beirne, Paul 1966 births Living people Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian sports executives and administrators Canadian Premier League Ottawa Senators executives Sportspeople from Toronto Toronto Maple Leafs executives Toronto Raptors executives Pacific FC non-playing staff