PWHPA – CanucksBanter

Initiative, Led by Mark and Kimbra Walter, Billie Jean King Has PWHPA and PHF Support.

CHICAGO AND BOSTON, JUNE 30, 2023 — A new professional hockey league, featuring the world’s best women’s players, will launch in January 2024.

The new league was announced today by business and philanthropic leaders Mark and Kimbra Walter, sports icon Billie Jean King, and Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) Governors Johanna and John Boynton. The league will be supported financially by the Walters and led by board members including King, sports executive Ilana Kloss, and Los Angeles Dodgers President Stan Kasten.

The new league has acquired assets of the PHF and has spent months negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). These actions will enable the new league to move forward in unprecedented ways. The new league will undertake a thorough and equitable process to ensure that it features the best women’s hockey players in the world.

“I have always believed that professional sports should bring the highest levels of performance and organization, and this new league will have the backing and resources it needs to represent the very best of women’s hockey,” said Mark Walter, who is the controlling owner of the Dodgers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, co-general partner of the ownership group of the Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and holder of a significant interest in the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity to advance women’s sports,” said King. “I have no doubt that this league can capture the imagination of fans and a new generation of players. I want to thank Mark and Kimbra Walter for their vision and commitment to investing in women’s sports.”

“This is another step forward for the women who play professional hockey and the girls who dream of it every day,” Johanna Boynton said. “The PHF has been a game-changer and catalyst for growth in the women’s professional game. Today’s announcement builds on this foundation, represents a shared vision for one new league, and reaffirms our belief that collective and collaborative leadership is in the best interest of women’s professional hockey.”

“I celebrate this transformational moment for women’s professional hockey,” said Kasten, who represented the Walters in both transactions. “I thank Jayna Hefford, Kendall Coyne Schofield and the PWHPA player bargaining committee, Johanna and John Boynton and their partners at the PHF, and PHF Commissioner Reagan Carey for their essential roles in this historic accomplishment.”

“This new league will be unlike anything we have seen in women’s hockey,” said Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and PWHPA lead, Jayna Hefford. “I am inspired by this generation of players who are redefining the sport. We will create dreams and opportunities for girls and women around the world for decades to come.”

“I am extremely proud of our PWHPA group, which has remained committed to our vision and steadfast in our efforts to change the landscape of women’s professional hockey forever,” said Coyne Schofield. “Over the past four years, we have worked tirelessly to close the gap on what young girls and boys could dream to become in this sport.”

“This effort is the most significant development in our game since women’s ice hockey became an Olympic sport 25 years ago,” said Carey. “Players, fans, past pioneers, and future generations deserve to see the best athletes come together to elevate professional women’s hockey as never before.”

Source: premierhockeyfederation.com

By JOHN WAWROW. Associated Press

North America’s top women’s hockey players are teaming up with former tennis star Billie Jean King and Los Angeles Dodgers chairman Mark Walter to explore launching a pro league within the next year, a person with direct knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association only revealed the agreement during a meeting with its membership. The deal was first reported by the Athletic.

The PWHPA informed its members, who include U.S. and Canadian national team players, that it signed a letter of intent with Billie Jean King Enterprises and the Mark Walter Group to expand on the association’s effort to establish what would become North America’s second women’s pro league.

Details of the proposed league have not yet been finalized, though tentative plans have the new league featuring six teams with players paid an average salary of $55,000.

The PWHPA would compete with the Premier Hockey Federation, which is entering its eighth season.

The privately-backed PHF is expanding from six to eight teams this season. It also upped its salary cap from $300,000 to $750,000 per team, with Mikyla Grant-Mentis becoming the league’s first $80,000 player after signing a one-year contract with Buffalo this month.

The PWHPA was established in 2019 after the Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded, and its members have balked at playing for the PHF, which was formerly called the National Women’s Hockey League.

The partnership marks a major step forward for the PWHPA in its three-year pursuit to achieve its vision in establishing a viable pro league with sustainable long-term economic backing. The PWHPA has already lured major sponsors and corporate backing, including 11 NHL franchises. It sought out the agreement with King and Walter because of their sports-related financing, operating and marketing experience.

BJK Enterprises is a women-run investment, consulting and marketing firm that holds stakes in several pro sports franchises including the Dodgers and WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

King also has a relationship with the NHL after the league partnered with the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative to further diversity in hockey in 2019. King is a pioneer in women’s sports who founded the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973.

Walter is the CEO of the global financial firm Guggenheim Partners, which holds more than $310 billion in assets. He has owned the Dodgers since 2012, when Guggenheim purchased the team for $2.2 billion. He also has stakes in the Sparks and the Los Angeles Lakers and is part of an ownership group seeking to buy Premier League soccer club Chelsea.