MINNEAPOLIS — Organizers announced plans Friday to launch a new women’s professional hockey league in January that they hope will provide a stable, economically sustainable home for the sport's top players for years to come.
The North American league is expected to start with six teams — three in the U.S. and three in Canada — according to a person with knowledge of the league's plans. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the details were not made public.
There are still some unanswered questions — where exactly teams will play, will the economic model work after earlier leagues fell short, and will there be a broadcast deal — but an initial framework is in place. The effort also has deep pockets behind it: Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter and wife Kimbra, team President Stan Kasten and tennis legend Billie Jean King will help run the league.
“Over the past four years, we have worked tirelessly to close the gap on what young girls and boys dream to become in this sport," said U.S. women’s star Kendall Coyne Schofield, a member of the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association.
The agreement ends a long standoff between the seven-team Professional Hockey Federation (PHF) and the PWHPA. The latter group includes Schofield and many other U.S. and Canadian national team players who were unwilling to join the PHF, whose assets were purchased by Walter’s firm.
It also could bring the National Hockey League to the table in a support role, perhaps in a way similar to how the NBA supports the WNBA. Commissioner Gary Bettman has said the NHL did not want to get involved in a dispute between leagues and would throw weight behind one, once it was formed.
“The National Hockey League congratulates the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association and the Premier Hockey Federation on their agreement,” the NHL said. “We already have initiated discussions with representatives of this unified group regarding how we can work together to continue to grow the women’s game.”
The PWHPA had been working with the Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises over the past 14 months on the new venture. PHF Commissioner Reagan Carey called the agreement the most significant development in the sport “since women’s ice hockey became an Olympic sport 25 years ago.”
“This is an extraordinary opportunity to advance women’s sports,” King said. “I have no doubt that this league can capture the imagination of fans and a new generation of players.”
The new league is expected to bring together North America’s most accomplished female players as well as players from Europe and Asia who have played in the PHF. Carey and PWHPA chief Jayna Hefford are expected to have leadership roles.
The PWHPA was certified as a union this spring and has completed negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement. A 62-page CBA was presented to PWHPA members on Thursday night, and they have until Sunday night to ratify it and the new league’s constitution, according to a person familiar with the details who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity before the deal was announced.
If approved, the deal will run through 2031 and features a minimum salary of $35,000 for players on active rosters, the person said.
Among the many issues that need to be sorted out is where the six teams will play. The PHF, which had recently doubled each team’s salary cap to $1.5 million, had seven: in Boston, Toronto and Montreal, along with East Rutherford, New Jersey; Hartford, Connecticut; Buffalo, New York; and Richfield, Minnesota.
In the meantime, existing PHF player contracts have been voided, though an agreement is in place to pay those under contract a portion of their salary through September, two people with knowledge of the information told AP. Some players are losing out on contracts they signed worth more than $150,000 over two seasons.
The higher salaries helped the PHF attract several high-profile international players as the league headed toward its ninth season, including Switzerland’s Alina Muller, Sweden’s Emma Soderberg and former Finland goalie and ex-PWHPA board member Noora Raty.
North American women’s pro hockey has seen leagues come and go, with the Canadian Women's Hockey League folding in 2019 after 12 seasons featuring some of the best players in the world. Dani Rylan Kearney launched the National Women's Hockey League in 2015 as an investor-funded, four-team league, but it scuffled at times and was later rebranded as the PHF.
The PWHPA was formed in 2019 in the fallout of the CWHL demise. Its members balked at joining the NWHL and instead pursued their vision of a league with a sustainable economic model and better compensation.
Earlier this month, PWHPA board member and U.S. star Hilary Knight insisted that the PHF was not the best model for building the women's pro game, even as the divide in the sport persisted.
“I make this distinction: The more women we can have get paid to do the sport they love, I think that’s awesome,” Knight said. “What bothers me is the illusion of professionalism and what women’s hockey should be, and settling for what it is, right? And I think that’s the big distinction is let’s call it what it is.”
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