Mark Cohon was still basking in the glow of last fall's 102nd Grey Cup game when he stepped down as Canadian Football League commissioner in January. Over the past eight years, Cohon, 48, won praise for recharging the CFL, his latest stop in a career that has included stints with the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and a ticketing business. He walks in the footsteps of a marketing master: his father, George, who built McDonald's business in Canada and became the retail face of perestroika when he started selling Big Macs in Moscow in 1990.

What was your defining leadership moment?

It was Day One, and I took the marketing campaign, "Our balls are bigger," off our website. They were comparing the league, in a joking way, to the National Football League. You can't compare yourself to a $9-billion-a-year juggernaut. I said, We are going to be proud of who we are, build our own identity and celebrate that identity.

So why leave the job now?

I had my CFL bucket list: I wanted to improve the business model and control costs. We renegotiated collective bargaining agreements. We wanted new infrastructure, and we have $2 billion in new stadiums built or being built. And we got back to the nation's capital. I could have stayed longer, but leaders often don't leave at the right time.

Story continues below advertisement

What's next?

I'm interested in something more entrepreneurial—owning a piece of a company. But everyone I talk to, including my father, advises me to take lots of meetings, but commit to nothing right now. And there are neat ideas I'm exploring with my father and my brother Craig, who is the managing partner of Cirque du Soleil in Russia. Maybe we can do something together—possibly in sports and entertainment.

What was the toughest lesson you learned at the CFL?

Be forceful and lead. Every team owner had a strong voice, but they also wanted to hear where they should go. Yes, you have to build consensus. But at times you might not have everything lined up, yet you have enough to move forward.

Do you regret leaving after a year in which attendance fell?

No, because you have to look at the whole picture, such as the new stadiums, a new TV deal and the second-highest sports TV ratings in the country after the NHL. Sports can be very cyclical. It was the year of the defence in the CFL last year, and that has an impact on viewership and attendance.

But how do you get jaded Torontonians to act like football-mad Saskatchewanians?

Unfortunately, you cannot replicate that Saskatchewan game experience in the Rogers Centre. You can do it by driving to Hamilton, or to Ottawa. If Argonauts owner David Braley can move the team into [the more intimate] BMO Field, he can create that same fervour and energy.

What's the most important thing you've learned from your dad?

It's all about customer service. When I was a little kid, I went with him touring the restaurants, either in the Big Mac bus or our station wagon. If there was a cup in the parking lot, he would pick it up. Then he would walk in the restaurant and talk to the customers and to every employee. I brought that to the CFL—sitting, not up in a skybox, but with the fans.

Did you see that during McDonald's Moscow launch?

We were up at 5 a.m.—Dad had a nightmare that nobody would show up. We drove out and there were flatbed trucks on site, and people were setting up. But there were no customers. The police had them lined up several blocks away. Dad said: "Let's walk over, boys." We took down the barricades, walked people down to the restaurant and got them in line.

So was the CFL like that—taking down barricades and engaging with the people?

Exactly. That's why I walk away with my head held high.

Story continues below advertisement

This interview has been condensed and edited.