Reports: Premier Hockey Federation purchased by PHWPA-affiliated Mark Walter Group
The Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises have entered into an agreement to purchase the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), per multiple reports on Thursday evening.
The transaction paves the way for PHF players to coalesce with their counterparts in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), which has long competed with the PHF in the North American women’s hockey landscape.
The players from the two groups will now play together in a singular league. The Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises previously entered into a partnership with the PWHPA in May 2022 with the intent of establishing a formal league for the association, which has operated with more of a showcase model since 2019.
Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reported on Thursday evening that both the PHF and PWHPA have been separately notified and that all PHF player contracts have been voided as a result of the acquisition.
According to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, the new unified league is set to begin play this coming January. Per multiple reports, the new league will have six teams, meaning one of the existing seven PHF clubs will likely be eliminated.
The PHF athletes have just been told that Billie Jean King Enterprises and the Mark Walter Group have purchased the PHF.
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) June 30, 2023The PHF athletes will play with the athletes in the PWHPA under one roof in the new league we've been talking about for over a year now.
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) June 30, 2023The PHF — previously the National Women’s Hockey League — operated with seven teams (two based in Canada and five in the United States) in the 2022–23 season. The Toronto Six defeated the Minnesota Whitecaps in the 2023 Isobel Cup Final at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Arizona.
According to The Athletic‘s Hailey Salvian, PWHPA members were told on Thursday night that they will vote to ratify an all-new collective bargaining agreement in the coming days. It’s unclear at this point whether previous PHF players will have a say in that process.
Notable pre-acquisition PHWPA players include international competition standbys Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse, Hilary Knight, Brianne Jenner, and Kendall Coyne Schofield, the latter four of whom also sit on the organization’s board of directors.
In addition to Toronto and Minnesota, the PHF also featured the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, and Montreal Force during the 2022–23 season. It remains to be seen which of the seven PHF teams will remain in the new league.
We’ll have more on this story as it continues to develop.