How the PWHL's Unique Business Model Secured the Future of Women's Hockey

The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) recently concluded its third season with the Montreal Victoire hoisting the Walter Cup. Yet, the most significant victory for the sport happened off the ice.[3]

In just three years, the PWHL has achieved what previous iterations of women's professional hockey could only dream of: financial stability, explosive growth, and mainstream cultural relevance. The league surpassed one million fans in a single season for the first time, drawing 1,116,497 attendees across 120 games.[2][6]

The momentum peaked in April when a sold-out crowd of 18,006 packed Madison Square Garden to watch the New York Sirens host the expansion Seattle Torrent, setting a new United States attendance record for a women's hockey game.[4][6]

This unprecedented success is not an accident of timing. It is the direct result of a radically different business framework. Unlike the NHL or the WNBA, the PWHL operates under a "single-entity" ownership model.[1][5]

Under this structure, all franchises are owned and operated by the Mark Walter Group, led by the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. There are no individual team owners to squabble over revenue sharing, territorial rights, or expansion fees.[5]

This centralized control allows the league to be incredibly nimble. It enabled the creation of the "Takeover Tour," where the league temporarily relocates games to neutral NHL arenas across North America to test new markets and build a national footprint without cannibalizing individual owners' gate revenues.[1][5]

The single-entity model also provided the patient capital necessary to negotiate an eight-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) before the first puck ever dropped.[7]

The CBA, ratified by the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHLPA), guarantees living wages, comprehensive medical coverage, maternity leave, and housing stipends. For the 2025-26 season, teams were required to meet an average salary of roughly $58,000, with a league minimum of around $37,000.[2][7]

While these figures pale in comparison to the NHL's $775,000 minimum, they represent a monumental leap for women's hockey, ensuring athletes no longer have to work second jobs to support their athletic careers.[2]

Beyond the boardroom, the PWHL has actively rewritten the rulebook to create a faster, more offense-driven product. The league reintroduced body checking, adding a level of physicality that had long been prohibited in the women's game.[1]

They also introduced the "jailbreak" rule, which allows a team on the penalty kill to end the opposing team's power play by scoring a short-handed goal. This transforms passive defensive sequences into aggressive, high-stakes hockey.[1]

The combination of financial backing and an exciting on-ice product has triggered an aggressive expansion strategy. After adding the Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes for its second season, the league is preparing to add four more markets—San Jose, Las Vegas, Detroit, and Hamilton—for the 2026-27 campaign.[3][5]

Growing from six to twelve teams in just three years is a breakneck pace. For context, it took the NHL 50 years to expand from four to twelve teams, and while the WNBA reached twelve teams in two years, half of those early franchises eventually folded.[5]

League executives argue the rapid expansion is a necessary response to overwhelming consumer demand and the need to secure a comprehensive national broadcast footprint in the United States. Earlier this year, the PWHL landed its first national linear television deal with the ION network, moving beyond regional sports networks and YouTube streams.[1][3]

However, the league's rapid ascent has introduced new tensions. Because the CBA locks in a modest three percent annual salary increase through 2031, players are tethered to early-stage compensation levels even as league revenues, merchandise sales, and attendance figures skyrocket.[2]

In a recent anonymous player poll, nearly one-third of the athletes identified salaries as the biggest issue facing the sport. While the eight-year CBA provided crucial early security, it may become a point of friction if the league's valuation continues to outpace player compensation.[2]

There are also questions about the long-term viability of the single-entity model. Sports business analysts suggest that to sustain a twelve-team league, the Mark Walter Group will eventually need to sell individual franchises to independent ownership groups, transitioning to a traditional franchise model.[5]

Despite these looming challenges, the PWHL has fundamentally altered the landscape of women's sports. With 100,000 women and girls now registered to play ice hockey in the United States, the league has established a visible, viable pinnacle for the next generation of athletes.[3]

For the first time in the sport's history, young girls can watch a unified, fully professional league with the assurance that it will still be there when they grow up.[1][3]