When the Professional Women’s Hockey League was first getting off the ground, executive Stan Kasten had a timeline in mind for when the league would be ready to bring in outside investors — and it wasn’t anywhere close to now.
The plan was to double the league’s size to 12 teams first, and Kasten figured that milestone would come somewhere around year 10 or 12. Instead, it arrived in just two and a half years.
“We thought we’d get there in Year 10 or 12,” said the 74-year-old Kasten, who has held executive positions with teams across major league baseball, the NBA, and the NHL. “And here we are after two-and-a-half years. It’s extraordinary.”
The PWHL’s breakneck expansion is being driven by real numbers — rising attendance, booming merchandise sales, and growing viewership, trends that accelerated even further after the U.S. captured gold at the Milan Cortina Games. Despite concerns from some observers that the league may be moving too aggressively, Kasten isn’t buying it.
“I want to hear the case for going slower. I can’t imagine it,” Kasten told The Associated Press.
The league has yet to turn a profit, but Kasten argues the enthusiasm from fans and the business community tells the real story. Detroit-based Ilitch Cos. and Toronto-based Kilmer Sports Ventures have signed on as the league’s first outside investors, a milestone Kasten says speaks volumes about confidence in the PWHL’s future.
Outside experts share that optimism. Jane McManus, a professor at New York University’s Tisch Institute for Global Sport and author of the book “The Fast Track: Inside the Surging Business of Women’s Sports,” said no one would advise a men’s league to pump the brakes under similar circumstances.
“Would you tell a men’s league to go slow if they saw a real upside in a developing market? You just wouldn’t,” McManus said. She added that she witnessed the demand firsthand while attending a sold-out PWHL game at Madison Square Garden in April. “You’d never tell somebody to put a cap on that if it’s happening on the men’s side.”
McManus credited the league’s coast-to-coast expansion strategy as a smart move to establish dominance and fend off potential rival leagues in women’s hockey. She also pointed to the PWHL’s single-entity ownership structure, which centralizes planning decisions, as a key advantage.
At the top of that structure are founders and primary financial backers Mark and Kimbra Walter, who oversee operations alongside the league’s advisory board.
Walter committed hundreds of millions of dollars to launch the six-team league in June 2023, striking a deal with the then-Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association and purchasing the assets of the rival Premier Hockey Federation. That organization had featured the world’s best players, including most members of the U.S. and Canadian national teams.
With those North American stars secured, McManus said the league had the foundation it needed to attract top international talent from Europe as well.
University of Colorado-Denver professor Sarah Fields, who specializes in the history of women’s professional sports, said the next few years will be the true test — but she likes what she sees so far.
“Give credit to the Walters because they took a big swing. And it looks like they’re going to have great success,” Fields said. “If I had the kind of money to invest that the Walters do, I’d do the same thing. I think this is a pretty good bet.”
Montreal Victoire forward and PWHL Players Association president Laura Stacey said she trusts league leadership to set the right pace for growth.
“If they’ve done this and made it this incredible in three years, then I trust that four more (teams) is exactly what we need,” Stacey said at the league’s awards ceremonies in Detroit last week. “People are thriving and really want to be a part of this sport and this movement. I think we’re ready for it.”
The four new franchises will be based in Detroit, San Jose, Las Vegas, and Hamilton, Ontario. Looking further ahead, the league is also exploring hosting an All-Star game, staging an outdoor game, and scheduling games in Europe.
Average attendance last season reached 9,304 per game — a 28% increase over the previous year and up 71% from the league’s debut season. Merchandise sales doubled, and viewership on YouTube climbed 77%, with more than a third of those viewers tuning in for the first time.
Canadian Press has reported that Kilmer’s investment stake is valued at $100 million. The Ilitch family had previously expressed interest in acquiring a franchise during the PWHL’s first expansion phase, when Vancouver and Seattle were added a year ago.
McManus projects the league could eventually sell off individual franchises to private owners at enormous returns. For context, WNBA teams were valued at roughly $25 million each a decade ago before skyrocketing in value — the Golden State Valkyries are now estimated to be worth $1 billion.
“I hope Mark Walter gets absolutely filthy rich, even richer than he is now because of putting his money in this league,” McManus said. “I hope he sells those franchises off in like five years for $500 million each.”
