The Business Of Women's Hockey

Since the news hit yesterday of the PWHPA acquiring all teams and assets of the PHF while having all contracts for players voided, I've seen a lot of anger and finger-pointing within the women's hockey world. While the players and staff who are affected by this acquisition have every right to be angry, this is how the business of hockey works. It happened in 1979 when the NHL acquired the WHA, and it's happening in 2023 with the PWHPA acquiring the PHF.

I won't deny that both the teams and players of the WHA and the PHF got the short end of the stick when it came to those acquisition deals because they were the ones being acquired, and we need to remember that fact when it comes to hockey being stronger as one unified league rather than two competing leagues. Taking the emotion out of the equation helps one digest this business deal in that it wasn't about which league was better or which gave the fans what they wanted, but, instead, this acquisition puts women's hockey in North America on solid ground for the first time in a long time.

The Mark Walter Group is backing the investment needed to for the PWHPA to purchase the PHF, and there's no shortage of capital there as Walter alone is worth $5.3 billion USD while he sits as the CEO for Guggenheim Partners which has over $300 billion in assets under management. Walter is no johnny-come-lately to the sports world either as he is the chairman and controlling owner of MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers, was part of the Todd Boehly-fronted consortium that bought Chelsea Football Club, and is part-owner of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. In short, the man knows sports purchases.

In showcasing Walter's sports acquisitions, when the opportunity came about for the PWHPA to acquire the PHF wholly and completely, it was more than one women's hockey group succeeding over the other despite it appearing that way on the surface. John Boynton, who is part of BTM Partners that managing the Toronto Six, Montreal Force, and Boston Pride, told Erica L. Ayala of Forbes as much.

"It's something that we've wanted to do for more than four years now," he told Ayala on Friday. "From the time that JoJo (Johanna Boynton, John's wife) and I got involved, the objective was to unify women's hockey, to have one league because we really thought that would allow the whole enterprise to move farther, faster. This current situation, we first had our conversations with the Mark Walter Group late last year, more than six months ago."

Yes, you can have emotions whether you're a PWHPA fan or a PHF fan, but it seems both sides finally put their petty differences aside for the business of women's hockey to succeed. In the end, that was always the goal, and it seems that both sides are finally prepared to see that goal through to the end regardless of the bumps in the road they may face.

“You have to understand this is a group of, I'll call it 100 players, who have just sacrificed the last four years, sacrificed the comfort of playing essentially in the PHF because they didn't want exactly this to happen because they believe that having a CBA in place which protects the future players of this professional league,” Liz Knox, a member of the PWHPA said to Ayala.

Madison Packer, a longtime NWHL player and PHF star, echoed the same sentiment as Knox, stating, "We need each other. We need women's hockey to grow in one spot. And some markets have worked for us; some haven't. I think that when it becomes a reality, it's tough to stomach because nobody wants to see anybody out of a job, right?"
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Maybe that's the hardest part to grasp because I don't want to see good people like Tatum Amy, Kennedy Ganser, Autumn MacDougall, Carly Jackson, Venla Hovi, or Sami Jo Small out of jobs in the PHF, but I also don't want see Alex Poznikoff, Kelsey Roberts, or Kaitlin Willoughby making less than they should in the PWHPA. These talented women all desvere to make as much as more than their male colleagues for playing the same sport, yet none had the same opportunities before this weekend.

Like the WHA being acquired by the NHL, the new entity in women's hockey will see less jobs and opportunities before it can grow into more. The women deserve that opportunity because are every bit as good the men who play the game. The new entity will rebound with the announcement of a league of six teams that will play in January with players we all know and want to watch. And before long, six teams may become eight, and eight may become twelve in the same way that the NHL grew.

With any business, stability is far more important than market coverage. Stable businesses with a solid growth plan will eventually move into markets where the business can continue to grow, but that stability also brings other benefits as a sports league. Sponsors, partners, and investors like stability when it comes to risks associated with their money, and having the deep pockets and business savvy of both the Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises at the forefront of this new league should attract companies who are serious about seeing the growth of this league while giving the players new opportunities.

Make no mistake that when this information leaked last night, there was every reason to question the legitimacy of this deal to merge the organizations while the emotional response towards the news ranged from joy to outright disgust. After sleeping on it and reviewing the information today, I can get behind this new entity as long as they reach their goals towards which they claim to be heading. With the PWHPA members voting this weekend on ratifying a CBA on their path to becoming a legitimate union, it seems the players will have a say in their futures as well. Living wages, it seems, will be a real thing with the possibility of earning more in the future.

Everyone has the ability to complain, and one should voice concerns when things seem off. Normally, I find the business of hockey to be cold, lacking morality, and generally bad for fans, but this might be the one deal that makes women's hockey stronger and better despite the loss of jobs and opportunities for players in the short-term. And while I get the fans of the PHF likely won't be happy seeing their favorite teams and players cast aside by the cruelness of the business, the long-term potential for this new league seems uncapped.

Sometimes, taking a step back allows one to gain perspective about how to move forward. Everyone knew that one league was going to prove to be more fruitful than two leagues if and when that occurred. Getting to that point seemingly required everyone to take a step back and look at how to move forward, and it was determined that the best way to move forward was together.

I believe, in business, that's called short-term pain for long-term gain.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!