AFC Toronto Majority Owner Eyes League Expansion, NWSL Matchups

A few days before the Northern Super League kicked its first ball, Canadian American investor Mark Mitchell went all-in on AFC Toronto, becoming the club’s majority owner. 

AFC Toronto 2025 logo

The Birmingham, Michigan-based investor is a veteran entrepreneur who has predominantly invested in the healthcare and automotive sectors south of the border before shifting to his latest sports-based venture, which is something he zeroed in on after scoping out the burgeoning market of professional women’s sports. 

“I think women’s sports have come into their own in the last three or four years,” Mitchell told Crains Detroit Business. “You look at the start of the NWSL and the growing popularity of the WNBA, and you see that these leagues have some great athletes and that’s what fans want to see.” 

With his majority investment in AFC Toronto coming in time for the inaugural NSL season, Mitchell says he got in on the ground floor. The move came following a discussion he had with AFC Toronto CEO Helena Ruken, who continues day-to-day operations with her team whilst Mitchell takes more of a backseat role. 

Diana Matheson (left) and Christine Sinclair prior to the NSL’s inaugural game at BC Place, April 16, 2025

While AFC Toronto kicked off in front of about 15,000 spectators at BMO Field, the rest of the season’s home matches will take place at York Lions Stadium. It’s a smaller venue that saw the club bring in 2,650 fans last week, with Mitchell stating that that more seats would be added to the stadium as the league grows – a potential shift from the Lamport Stadium discussions that have reportedly circled the club’s more permanent stadium plans. 

What’s more, Mitchell told Crains that the league could launch expansion teams as early as the 2027 NSL season. While we’ve seen that Diana Matheson was keen on the Prairies, along with getting more traction eastwards of Toronto, the NSL’s first expansion sets are far from set in stone. 

For the moment, it’s interesting that Mitchell points to a date beyond what will be the league’s second season for expansion, though it’s early days yet – after all, match week four only just wrapped, with a crowd north of 8,000 attending the first Calgary Wild home game. 

Calgary Wild FC in action

The AFC Toronto majority owner also expressed interest in bringing Northern Super League clubs into competition against NWSL sides, though it’s unclear whether this would be for exhibition matches or competitive cup play. He says any inter-league action would ultimately be up to the NSL and NWSL brass. 

While Mitchell is based in Michigan, he has deep roots in Canadian soil: his father grew up in Winnipeg after his grandfather emigrated there. 

With Birmingham quite close to the Windsor border, his northern neighbor – though Birmingham is more north than Windsor – has remained fresh on the mind. 

“It’s cool to keep that history with Canada going,” says Mitchell, who admits that he may eventually invest in other sports markets. “But I’m all-in on the NSL now. As a family office, we’ll continue to look at other sports investments, but probably not for a while. We’re going to try to make this league and this team as successful as we can.”