Mark Cohon

Mark Cohon

Canadian Football League
Mark Cohon at a Toronto Argonauts game in 2009
Date of birth:	(1966-03-16) March 16, 1966
Place of birth:	Chicago, Illinois, US
Career information
Position(s):	Commissioner
College:	Northwestern University
High school:	Upper Canada College
Organizations
As administrator:
2006-present 2007-present	Ontario Science Centre (Chair) Canadian Football League (Comm.)

Mark Steven Cohon, OOnt (born March 16, 1966) is the 12th and current commissioner of the Canadian Football League. The son of McDonald's Canada founder George Cohon, he was appointed in 2007 succeeding Tom Wright.^[1]

Cohon was born in Chicago, Illinois, and moved to Toronto, Ontario when he was two years old.

He is a graduate of Upper Canada College and Northwestern University with a Bachelors of Science majoring in communication studies^[2] and worked at the NBA as head of international marketing and Major League Baseball International as head of corporate development. ^[3] before becoming President and chief executive officer of AudienceView Ticketing, a company which sells ticketing systems and services to sports, arts and entertainment events.

In 2002, Cohon married Suzanne Elizabeth Lucido.^[3]

In 2003, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Ontario Science Centre and then named Chair in 2006.^[4] In 2013, he was made a Member of the Order of Ontario.^[5]

CFL Commissioner

In 2007 Mark Cohon succeeded Tom Wright as the Commissioner of the Canadian Football League. Under the direction of Cohon the CFL continued to bring in high attendance figures and strong TV ratings. One of the most prominent aspects of Cohon's time as commissioner has been his interest in expanding the league to make it accessible to all Canadians. The first aspect of this campaign is to see a franchise return to Ottawa. In 2008 the CFL announced that it had granted the city of Ottawa the rights to launch a new CFL franchise, pending the renovation of Frank Clair Stadium. Because of multiple setbacks the timeline for completion of Lansdowne Park and Frank Clair Stadium has been pushed back until 2014 or 2015. The second phase of potential CFL expansion has been exploration into a franchise in the Atlantic provinces. In the 2010 CFL season the CFL began a program called Touchdown Atlantic in which one regular season game each year is played in Moncton, New Brunswick. On February 10, 2012 the CFL announced that Mark Cohon had signed a contract extension as the commissioner of the CFL for another three years.

References

External links

• CFL.ca blog page
• Q and A with CBC Sports
• Mark Cohon, first interview on "The Hour" with George Stroumboulopoulos
• Mark Cohon, second interview on "The Hour" with George Stroumboulopoulos
• "Why the CFL Matters" (a blog by Mark Cohon on NationalPost.com)
• Mark Cohon on Twitter