The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association has an agreement with two major companies involved in the Los Angeles sporting scene to explore starting a pro women's hockey league, The Athletic's Hailey Salvian reports.
Salvian writes the PWHPA has signed a letter of intent with Billie Jean King Enterprises and the Mark Walter Group to work on the venture.
King, a tennis legend, is the leading figure of a company that has minority stakes in the NWSL's Angel City FC, the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers.
Walter also is part of the ownership groups of the Dodgers, Sparks and NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. He is also part of the consortium buying English Premier League side Chelsea.
The Athletic reports the PWHPA, BJK Enterprises and Mark Walter Group are eying former WTA Tour chairman Larry Scott to lead the combined group's work, along with Ilana Kloss, the CEO of BJK and King's longtime partner.
According to Salvian, the PWHPA has been working with Deloitte and Scotiabank on a business plan.
Sportsnet's Jeff Marek has reported the league will be a six-team league, made up of squads in Canada and the United States. Teams would have 23 players, with a base salary of $35,000 and an average salary of $55,000 plus bonuses. The 32-game season will run from January to April of 2023.
The PWHPA, formed in 2019, features most of the players on the Canadian and U.S. Olympic teams.
The PWHPA broke off talks with the Premier Hockey Federation, the only pro women's league in North America, to work together on a venture earlier this year.
