Cary Kaplan is the president and co-owner of the

sports marketing Sports marketing as a concept has established itself as a branch of marketing over the past few decades, however, a generally accepted definition does not exist. Academicians Kaser and Oelkers (2005, p. 9) define sports marketing as 'using spor ...

firm Cosmos Sports & Entertainment with his wife Amelia Kaplan, which launched in 2003.Image is Canadian soccer's biggest problem, commissioner says
''

The Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation,''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. History ''The Ha ...

'', July 8, 2005 The company specializes in consulting for sports teams and leagues in sales, marketing and business operations. High-profile clients have included the

NHL 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 ...

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

MLS 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 Cana ...

, the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Divisio ...

and the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Pacific Division (NBA), P ...

Biography

In 1995, Kaplans's marketing firm Sports Marketing Results had an affiliation with the

Canadian National Soccer League The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the foldin ...

. Kaplan then worked for the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

hockey team for six years, the last two as the president and alternate governor of the Oilers top affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs, of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL). In 1999, he won the Ken McKenzie Award as the AHL's top marketing executive. In Hamilton, he was credited with keeping the team in Hamilton when he organized the 'Stay Dogs Stay' campaign in 2000, resulting in increased attendance and tickets sold. He also initiated the process that brought the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

to take over the Bulldogs franchise and AHL team in the city when the Oilers withdrew following the 2002–03 season.Kaplan cuts ties with Bulldogs; Leaves after spending six years with AHL
, ''

'', July 24, 2002 Kaplan has been owner and president of sports marketing firm Cosmos Sports & Entertainment since August 2003 when he and his wife Amelia opened the business. From 2005 until October 2009, he served as the commissioner and chairman of Canada's only professional soccer league, the Canadian Soccer League. During his tenure, the league gained affiliations with Canada's governing body, the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ...

, as well as with Canada's top two professional teams

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 ...

and the Montreal Impact, the establishment of a television contract with Rogers TV, and reserve divisions for the league.Kaplan takes over as soccer head; Ex-Bulldogs president helped bring team to city
, ''

'', April 15, 2005CSL Commissioner Resigns
, ''

CJCL CJCL (590 AM, '' Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis in downtown Toro ...

'', September 2009 In 2013, Kaplan assumed the role of the president of the new

Brampton Beast The Brampton Beast were a professional ice hockey team based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The team originally played in the Central Hockey League for one year during the 2013–14 season prior to the league's folding before joining the ECHL f ...

hockey team in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

(CHL). Kaplan was a minority owner that helped bring the first Canadian franchise in the CHL. The seven remaining CHL teams joined the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). Th ...

prior to the 2014–15 season. The Beast folded in February 2021 after not being able to play since March 2020 during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. The organization also faced many challenges under Kaplan's leadership, including massive debt, staff turnover and being unable to retain or build a fanbase. In 2019, Kaplan further added the role of being Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of

Global T20 Canada The Global T20 Canada is a 20-over cricket tournament played in Canada. The first edition of the tournament took place during June and July 2018 with six teams competing. Each team featured four local Canadian cricketers in each squad, along w ...

, managing all revenue for the largest cricket event in Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Cary Living people Canadian ice hockey owners Dalhousie University alumni 1969 births