Curling Canada and Kruger Products have been in partnership together for more than four decades, helping to elevate the iconic Scotties Tournament of Hearts to new heights. The governing body’s CEO Nolan Thiessen and tissue brand company’s CMO Susan Irving explain why the sponsorship is a good fit and how the pair work together to deliver true gender equality in the sport.
As the year when Canada became fully independent, 1982 already represents a landmark moment in the country’s history. But curling fans might also remember it as the first time the Canadian women’s national championship became known as the ‘Scott Tournament of Hearts’.
The tournament, which was launched in 1961, underwent a name change after Scott Paper agreed to sponsor the tournament for the first time, taking over naming rights from the Macdonald Tobacco Company. Scott Paper stepped in after Robin Wilson, who was part of the 1979 championship-winning team, led a major push to secure the tissue brand’s backing.
More than a decade later, Curling Canada took over the running of the tournament following a merger involving event organisers, the Canadian Ladies Curling Association and its men’s counterpart Curl Canada. Kruger Products then acquired the Canadian subsidiary of Scott Paper in 1997 for CAN$451 million.
With the tournament already known as the Scott, Kruger Products was more than happy to inherit the sponsorship of the event, which since 2006 has been known as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
“It was always called the Scott Tournament of Hearts, and when we bought the Scott Paper brand, it was something that the organisation just wanted to continue,” explains Susan Irving, chief marketing officer of Kruger Products. “Given that we’re a proud Canadian company and ‘making everyday life more comfortable’ for Canadians is our vision, it just continued to fit in terms of showing up and giving back to the communities in which we serve.”
‘Not many companies serve as a title sponsor of a women’s sporting event for 44 years’
The Scotties Tournament of Hearts is now a marquee event on the Canadian sporting calendar and has become an annual must-attend tournament for curling fans.
With a different city hosting the Scotties each year, the event helps Kruger Products engage with different communities and, with about six million Canadians watching the tournament on TSN in 2025, the tournament generates significant exposure for the Scotties brand across the country.
“There’s just something so Canadian, and powerful in terms of providing a world-class stage that celebrates Canadian curlers and connects with communities through sport, and having a commitment that really extends our products to creating healthier and happier communities,” Irving says.
“Curling just does such a great job, because the Scotties travels from coast-to-coast, and then you also have the national broadcast to ensure all fans can get in on the action.”
Kruger Products’ title sponsorship means it has a major presence throughout the event. It receives branding on the curlers’ uniforms, as well as appearing across in-arena signage, on the ice, scoreboards and rink boards.
Additionally, the Scotties receives national broadcast coverage through Curling Canada’s exclusive broadcast partners, TSN and RDS, providing a prominent platform for Kruger Products to promote its product campaigns to a large and loyal national audience.
Now set to enter its 45th year, Kruger Products’ long-running sponsorship has become synonymous with the tournament. According to a study from SponsorPulse, those engaged with the Scotties Tournament of Hearts strongly agree that the tournament is ‘a part of Canadian history’ and agree that it is ‘hard to imagine’ the championship being named anything else.
“You don’t typically hear sporting events that are named after your brand, but it is a very important partnership for our company and a pride point,” Irving says. “I don’t think there are very many companies that can say that they’ve been the title sponsor of a national marquee event for 44 years – especially for women.
“For Kruger Products to be the longest-standing supporter of women in Canadian curling is something that our organisation is very proud of, as well as our partnership with Curling Canada and everything that we’ve been able to do to continue to generate the momentum behind women in sport – and specifically women in curling.”
“You’ve got to feed the funnel”
Nolan Thiessen, who is the chief executive of Curling Canada, says the partnership with Kruger Products is now “ingrained as part of our whole business.”
Indeed, the relationship is about much more than just branding opportunities. One of the reasons it resonates so broadly is likely because of the depth of the company’s support and the community engagement that sits at the core of the collaboration.
As well as title sponsoring the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Kruger Products is also the presenting partner of Curling Canada’s Girls Rock program, a female-led curling and mentorship initiative which introduces young girls to the sport and gives them an environment to hone their skills.
First held as a one-off event in 2022, the free initiative is a key part of Curling Canada’s efforts to make the sport more accessible, inclusive and equitable for girls aged between nine and 16, as well as developing the next generation of Canadian curling stars. It also aims to help young girls boost their mental and physical health, forge new friendships, gain confidence and build leadership skills – all through the sport of curling.
Nine of Curling Canada’s 14 member associations, spanning provinces and territories, ran at least one Girls Rock event within their region last year.
Citing the high sport drop-out rate among teenage girls aged between 12 and 16, Thiessen says “investing in that pipeline” alongside one of Curling Canada’s longest-standing sponsors is “super important for us.”
“It’s one thing to sponsor a major event and one of the national championships,” he continues. “But to help invest in one of our programs that will pay off ten years down the road – that’s the cool part.”
Kruger Products’ involvement in the Girls Rock initiative this year kicked off with an event aligned with the Scotties Tournament of Hearts at Thunder Bay. The full capacity session saw 64 girls try curling for the first time, as well as giving them the opportunity to meet curling Olympians.
“We’re thrilled to be the sponsors of Girls Rock,” says Irving, who was speaking alongside Thiessen on the NEW ERA podcast. “I think there’s two important things for sport. Number one, seeing women at the top of their sport at the national level is important for young girls. If you can see it you can be it, so it’s always nice to have that at the top of the pyramid.”
“But at the end of the day, you’ve got to feed the funnel. We need to ensure that we’re investing at the community level to ensure that girls are joining sport, because girls do drop out of sport at a more rapid rate than boys do.”
“So initiatives like these really help to introduce girls to the game, build their confidence, and have them join a great sport. Cost is always a barrier too, so when you bring programs like this forward, it’s just an easier way for parents to be able to access sport.”
“We’ve tried to change the mentality”
A key legacy of Kruger Products’ ongoing commitment at both the elite and grassroots level is that Curling Canada has been able to deliver genuine equality for male and female athletes across the sport.
Development and national team funding is equal for men’s and women’s teams, national championships have seen female athletes paid the same prize money as their male counterparts since 2019, and men and women receive equal hours of broadcast coverage at Curling Canada-run events.
Kruger Products’ role in that has been recognized by athletes and fans alike, particularly as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts continues to grow in popularity. What’s clear is that the company’s investment in the sport has been mutually beneficial; not only has it been transformational for women’s curling, but also good for business.
“We’ve tried to change the mentality,” Thiessen says. “There’s no qualifiers [with this commitment], there’s no ‘this is great for women’. This is amazing sport. This is people that are living their dreams. We have some of the most famous Canadian athletes who play in our event.”
“For our events, I’ve emphasised that you don’t need softer music. You don’t need to treat [women’s curling events] differently. This is one of the biggest sporting events in Canada. It’s not just, ‘oh, this is cool for women’, which I think is a really important step for a lot of people.”
“It’s not from a social good, it’s because it’s riveting sport. People are driven to sport when they feel this passion for it, and that’s what I think we’ve been able to build.”
