There was a big change in women’s professional hockey Thursday night.
According to multiple sources briefed on the situation, the First Hockey League will cease all operations after its purchase by the Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises.
The exact terms of the deal have been kept secret, but according to a PHF memo sent to the players on Friday, it has been obtained. the athlete“there was no financial gain to the owners of the PHF” in the sale.
The Professional Hockey Players Association partnered with the Mark Walter Group and BJK Enterprises in May 2022 with the goal of launching a new women’s professional hockey league that could stand the test of time.
The new league — which doesn’t yet have a definitive name — will launch in January 2024, according to an official announcement of the purchase on Friday.
This is a watershed moment for women’s hockey. Here’s what you need to know.
What does this mean for the future of women’s professional hockey?
After years of division and turmoil in professional women’s hockey, the way is now clear for one unified league in North America for all the best players.
The PHF was founded in 2015 as the National Women’s Hockey League by former commissioner Danny Rylan Kearney. It was the first women’s hockey league to pay its players. After its release, there was an exodus of American players from the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, and lured by a paycheck, some Canadians left as well. The CWHL did not pay its players until 2017. However, that league abruptly folded in March 2019 after 12 seasons due to financial instability.
Two months after the CWHL folded, the top 200 female hockey players announced that they would forgo participation in any North American professional leagues until they had access to “the resources hockey professionals require and deserve”. The group of players became officially known as the Women’s Professional Hockey Players Association.
Some players have stuck with the group and played in exhibition events over the past four seasons; Others joined the PHF as the league expanded and raised its salary cap.
For years, there have been calls for a unified women’s league. But PWHPA was unwilling to work with PHF due to concerns about its business model and its long-term viability.
Now that PHF has been purchased, there will be one place for the best talent in North America, with the right resources for professional athletes. If viewership for the Olympics is any indication, there’s an appetite for women’s hockey at the elite level — the gold medal game between Canada and the United States averaged 3.54 million viewers on NBC and 2.7 million on CBC and Sportsnet during the 2022 Games. For the first time, a women’s professional hockey league can replicate the kind of intensity seen at the Olympics, which means eyeballs can follow.
From a business perspective, sponsors and fans won’t have to choose which league they support. Broadcast partners won’t either.
Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten, who will be on the new league’s board of directors, said in an interview with the athlete Friday afternoon. “I think there is no doubt now, we represent the best opportunity for the best players in the world to play.
“We know our mission, we have the financial resources, we have the infrastructure, we have the institutional support and we have the leadership.”
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PHF to stop operations; New women’s hockey league kicks off in January
What do we know about the new league?
According to a press release sent out by PHF on Friday morning, the new league will start in January 2024.
The league will be “financially” supported by Mark and Kimbra Walter and led by board members including Billie Jean King and athletic director Ilana Kloss and Kasten, according to Friday’s announcement.
the athlete It was first reported in March 2023 that a new professional league, launched by Walter Group and BJK Enterprises, would be ready for the 2023-24 season.
Members of the PWHPA’s negotiating committee have been working behind the scenes for months, negotiating the historic CBA agreement. According to a person on the PWHPA call, players will vote to ratify the CBA over the coming days. If it passes, and the expectation is that it will, the puck drop will be in January 2024.
Getting the CBA sanctioned before the start of the 2023-24 season will mark the first women’s professional league. The WNBA adopted its first CBA in 1999, two years after its inaugural season in 1997. The NWSL CBA was finalized last year, nearly 10 years into the league’s existence. Meanwhile, the PHF had a set of league regulations but not the CBA. According to players reviewed by the CBA, items include: salaries in the range of $35,000 to $80,000 or more, housing stipends, relocation fees, medical and dental benefits, retirement plans, as well as maternity and parental leave.
“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” said one PWHPA player of the CBA.
More details, such as where the teams will be located, are yet to come, and Kasten said there will be more details about the league in the next 30 to 60 days.
“We are in the formative stages,” he said. “But I will tell you, I’ve had people working on names, working on slogans, working on cities, working on venues, working on schedules. We have people getting ready and now we have to go.”
According to people briefed on the situation, there will be six teams with 23 players on the rosters. Players from both the PWHPA and PHF—as well as NCAA alumni and international players—will have the opportunity to join the new league. Some players who have been part of the PWHPA since its inception will not make a roster when the league launches. The same goes for the guys at PHF. There is expected to be an entry draft and free agency period.
Although the CBA is voted on by current PWHPA members, there is a path to union membership for former PHF players.
“Everyone who enters our league will become a member of the guild and enjoy all the perks that PW players have spent so long fighting for,” Kasten said.
Will the NHL participate?
Commissioner Gary Pittman has been strong about the need for uniformity in women’s professional hockey. In March 2022, the PWHPA and PHF met at the Commissioner’s request to try to reach an agreement that would bring the two parties together. But PWHPA, as I first mentioned before the athlete In April, they voted unanimously to end discussions on cooperation with PHF.
“I’ve tried on more than one occasion,” Bateman said in January when asked about paving the way for unity in the women’s game. “Each of them seems intent on going in their own direction and I think for women’s hockey to be successful, I think everyone has to redouble their effort together.”
Previously, Bettman said NHL teams did not have his authorization to work with the PWHPA. But one league could open a path to official NHL participation.
Who is Mark Walter?
Mark Walter, controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has sports finance experience at the highest level and mega finance.
Walter is the CEO of investment firm Guggenheim Partners, which has more than $300 billion in assets under management. Walter’s net worth, via Forbes, is estimated to be around $5.3 billion.
He’s been the owner of the Dodgers since 2012, when his investment group bought the team for $2.2 billion. He is also a part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and is part of the ownership group that bought Chelsea Football Club.
Kasten—a longtime baseball executive and president of the Dodgers—also participated in the PWHPA. Kasten is a part owner of the Dodgers and has a business portfolio with Walter.
Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss – King’s longtime partner and CEO of BJK Enterprises – also have experience running sports organizations and creating their own distinct brand.
King, a former tennis champion, is a pioneer for gender equality in sports and is involved with several ownership groups across professional sports via Billie Jean King Enterprises, including minority stakes in Angel City FC, Sparks, and Dodgers. She has also served as a consultant for PWHPA for the past few years.
What happens to the Primary Health Care Fund?
PHF players have plunged into uncertainty. Their contracts will be terminated and they will look for a new team to play next season.
According to the league memorandum distributed on Friday, which I obtained the athleteAll players will be released from their contracts starting July 10, “paving the way for pursuing a contract with the new league”.
More than 70 players have signed new contracts this off-season under a previously announced $1.5 million salary cap. Some contracts were worth up to $150,000. These deals will not be paid in full, and instead, players will receive a severance package and a period of ongoing health benefits.
According to the memorandum, players signed for the 2023-24 season will receive insurance benefits through September 30, 2023, and compensation from the Players Equality Incentive Program announced in January 2022 which stated: “All players will benefit from 10 percent of each team’s credit.”
Additionally, according to the memo, there will be a PHF severance program that will pay players 1/12 of their contracted 2023-2024 season salary or $5,000, whichever is greater. Visa adjustment or adjustment support will also be made available to players playing in the United States or Canada on visas. The memo stated that the Player Support Office had been established to “guide all PHF players through this transition”.
With only one league in North America, there will be workforce constraints, which will put pressure on players who may not be at the top level of the women’s game.
According to the PHF memo, players not playing in another professional league in 2023-24 will be eligible to receive money from the $1 million fund. The minimum payout will be $10,000 per player, depending on the total number of players eligible for the fund.
in addition to, the athlete I learned that the Mark Walter Group purchase included PHF’s intellectual property, meaning the new league could use some of its pre-existing franchise names and brands. However, this does not necessarily mean that if a team is launched in Boston, for example, it will be named “Boston Pride”.
Kasten confirmed that the group had purchased assets from the league, but not “everything,” he said. He did not exclude any cities or places.
(Photo of the Toronto Six playing Connecticut Whales in the Isobel Cup playoffs: Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)