‘Definitely a shift’ in Canadians’ choices of most marketable athletes

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As Canada becomes a more diverse sports-watching nation, the types of athletes fans view as likable and marketable has started to shift.

Over the past few years, Canada has won gold in Olympic women’s soccer, punched its ticket to the 2022 World Cup, the Toronto Raptors have won the NBA championship, and Denis Shapovalov, Bianca Andreescu, Leylah Annie Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime have become household names in tennis. On top of that, swimmer Penny Oleksiak has won seven Olympic medals while sprinter Andre De Grasse took home three medals at the 2021 Tokyo Games. 

Because of that success, a country that once looked primarily at hockey players as its biggest stars is starting to see athletes from a variety of sports as being just as marketable. According to a recent TSN/IMI International study of the top 50 most marketable active Canadian-born athletes within the country, 19 were NHLers.

“NHL is prominent – it’s not dominant because people aren’t just NHL fans, they’re sports fans,” said Don Mayo of IMI.

On a global scale, Bayern Munich soccer player Alphonso Davies was the most marketable Canadian athlete, while the Chicago Bulls’ Tristan Thompson ranked second. Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll and Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Chase Claypool were also in the top 10. NHLers Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Mitch Marner ranked fourth, fifth, and eighth, respectively.

Within Canada, the four most marketable Canadian athletes were Crosby, McDavid, Carey Price, and Marner. De Grasse ranked fifth, Andreescu sixth, and Oleksiak seventh. 

Mayo emphasized that hockey remains prevalent, but acknowledged that had the survey been done five years ago, there likely would have been more hockey players in the top