Dan MacKenzie

Dan MacKenzie is a Canadian sports administrator and marketing executive. He has served as president of the Canadian Hockey League since September 2019. He served as the vice-president and managing director of National Basketball Association (NBA) Canada from 2014 to 2019, and previously worked for The Sports Network. During his tenure with NBA Canada, he implemented marketing strategies targeted to younger demographics to grow the game in Canada, and he increased the NBA presence using television, advertising, social media and community involvement. He oversaw events which included managing the development NBA Global Games in Europe, 3x3 basketball tournaments in Canada, the NBA Canada Series, and the 2016 NBA All-Star Game.

Early life and education MacKenzie was born and raised in Guelph, Ontario, and is a former school teacher. He played ice hockey as a youth in Guelph, and attended Guelph Platers games.

He completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in marketing at McMaster University in 1992, a Bachelor of Education degree at Brock University in 1995, the sport and event marketing program at George Brown College in 1997, and a Master of Management in sport at Ohio University in 2019.

Canadian basketball MacKenzie began working for National Basketball Association (NBA) Canada in 1998, managing events and development of basketball in Canada. From December 2002 to October 2003, he led an NBA project to host exhibition games in Europe as part of NBA Global Games. In 2013, Financial Post Business noted that NBA revenue in Canada grew 224% since 2008, and MacKenzie attributed the growth to marketing strategy combined with the sport's appeal to the young Asian Canadians demographic. He noted that recent trends of immigration to Canada showed people were coming from countries where basketball was already a popular sport. He also noted there was significant support from Filipino Canadians and Chinese Canadians, and felt it was related to the former Philippine Basketball League and NBA efforts in China including exhibition games, skills programs, and coaching programs. He also targeted first-generation Canadians as a market for basketball.

title=NBA statement on MacKenzie...|quote="Under Dan's leadership, basketball and the NBA's popularity in Canada have grown to all-time highs. Among Dan's many accomplishments, he oversaw the success of NBA All-Star 2016 in Toronto, the expansion of our Jr. NBA program, and most recently a record-setting season for the NBA in Canada." — Mark Tatum, deputy commissioner, July 2019 He also announced contracts with Air Miles and Bank of Montreal, and said that Canadian-based sponsors were coming onboard due to the growing fan base in Canada, highlighting that the NBA had 650,000 Canadian followers on Twitter by 2016. He said that during the playoff run leading Toronto's victory in the 2019 NBA Finals, the Canadian audience from outside of Ontario grew, viewership increased 163% and sales of NBA merchandise rose 26% from the previous season, In June 2019, he announced a partnership with Canada Basketball to create a Junior NBA Leadership Council to promote programs offered to local youth community groups, and expanded television coverage of the Women's National Basketball Association to be available via Sportsnet, TSN and NBA TV Canada.

Canadian Hockey League On July 30, 2019, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) announced MacKenzie was hired as its first full-time president. In November 2019, he announced that Wawanesa Insurance had partnered with the CHL for a Christmas Toy drive.

In March 2020, the CHL and its constituent leagues cancelled the remainder of the 2019–20 regular seasons, playoffs and the 2020 Memorial Cup, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North America. MacKenzie stated a desire to begin the 2020–21 on its normal schedule, but would wait until public health authorities deem it is safe to play. He also stated no decision has been made to restart play without fans in attendance as proposed in some professional leagues.

When the CHL Top Prospects Game was replaced by the CHL USA Prospects Challenge involving the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in 2024, MacKenzie felt that the new event would "[serve] as a best-on-best showcase [to] provide our top draft-eligible players from across the CHL with a great opportunity to demonstrate their elite talent and world-class skill set as they work towards hearing their name called at the NHL draft".

Personal life MacKenzie resides in Guelph, Ontario, and is married with two children as of 2019. He stepped down from the SMCC in 2015. He later volunteered for the board of directors of Licensing Industry Merchandiser's Association Canada, and has been a committee member for the sports celebrity festival hosted by Special Olympics Canada.

Awards MacKenzie was named one of the George Brown College alumni Five to Watch, and received the college's Alumni Achievement Award. He served as co-chairman of the Five to Watch event in 2013.