The Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises have purchased the Premier Hockey Federation, therefore creating a new women's league, Sportsnet's Jeff Marek reported on Thursday.
The league will launch in January, a statement from the two organizations confirmed on Friday.
“This new league will be unlike anything we have seen in women’s hockey,” said Jayna Hefford, leader of the PWHPA, in a statement. “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.”
Both groups financed the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association, the union supporting women's hockey, making this a step towards creating a unified women's hockey league.
Marek also reports that the remaining contracts of PHF players have been voided.
Per reporting, it is also expected that the Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises will also only be purchasing "certain assets," per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.
Players for both the PHF and the rival Professional Hockey Players’ Association were informed of the purchase in a private meeting.
The Mark Walter Group has spent the past 14 months working with the PWHPA in a bid to launch its own league.
The PWHPA certified as a union this spring and is in the late phases of completing negotiations to establish a collective bargaining agreement. Once ratified, the CBA would become the final step toward establishing a league that would launch before the end of the year.
The ratification vote is expected to take place within the next week.
Hefford and PHF commissioner Reagan Carey will feature in leadership roles, a source told The Associated Press.
Among the many issues that need to be sorted out include the number of teams, where they will play and what will happen to existing PHF players' contracts, some of which are worth more than $150,000 and run over two seasons. The PHF, which doubled each team's salary cap to $1.5 million entering this season, has teams in Boston, Toronto and Montreal along with East Rutherford, New Jersey; Hartford, Connecticut; Buffalo, New York; and Richfield, Minnesota.
North American women's pro hockey has been divided since the PWHPA was formed in 2019 following the financial demise of the Canadian Women's Hockey League.
PWHPA members balked at joining what was then known as the National Women's Hockey League, which was later rebranded as the PHF. The PWHPA instead pursued its own vision of having a controlling interest in a league with a sustainable economic model and fair wages for players.
In May 2022, the PWHPA reached an agreement with Walter's firm and Billie Jean Enterprises to pursue the formation of the new league.
-- With files from the Associated Press
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.