(Reuters) – A new professional women’s ice hockey league will launch in January 2024, bringing together the world’s best players in a unified league, it was announced on Friday.
News of the league ends a long-running divide between the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) and the seven-team Premier Hockey Federation (PHF).
The league will be supported financially by Mark Walter, co-owner of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, and his wife Kemba while former tennis great Billie Jean King will be among the board members.
“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 Walter.
Details on the new league with regards to how many teams it will consist of and in what cities were not disclosed.
The new league acquired assets of the PHF, spent months negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with the PWHPA and will undertake a thorough and equitable process to ensure that it features the best women’s hockey players in the world.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity to advance women’s sports,” said King, who has spent her life fighting for gender equality. “I have no doubt that this league can capture the imagination of fans and a new generation of players.”
Established in 2015 as the National Women’s Hockey League, the NWHL rebranded to become the PHF in 2021 and its teams competed each year for the Isobel Cup.
The PWHPA, which features mostly U.S. and Canadian national team players competing in showcase events, was formed in 2019 after the demise of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
The PWHPA held traveling showcases called the Dream Gap Tour in a bid to draw attention to the fact there is no hockey league that pays women a living wage or has the infrastructure in place to succeed.
“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 PWHPA member and Olympic gold medallist Kendall 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.”
The deal has also grabbed the attention of the National Hockey League (NHL), which has long said it would not provide fiscal support so long as there were two competing leagues.
“The National Hockey League congratulates the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association and the Premier Hockey Federation on their agreement,” the NHL said in a statement.
“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.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)
