Canada has been without professional women's hockey since the collapse of the Canadian Women's Hockey League this past March, but that could change very soon. The National Women's Hockey League is adamant about expansion into Canada, and Sportsnet is reporting the first team is likely to be in the Greater Toronto area as soon as next season.
The NWHL currently has five teams, all based in the U.S. However, the league says a new investor means flexibility to either sell an expansion market or have the league own it at the outset. The new investor is Entrepreneur Andy Scurto, the founder of an insurance firm that he sold in 2017.
This provides us with long-term viability,” NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan said in an email to Sportsnet. “This empowers us to invest in our most sustainable revenue streams. We had our best off-season in corporate partnerships this summer, so we'll continue to focus our resources on procuring strong alignments that will lead to more support for our players and business.”
The NWHL now has its first paid media rights deal with Twitch, an expanded season of 24 games over the course of six months and a 50-50 revenue split with players for all league sponsorships and media deals. Because of that, players who signed for the highest end $15,000 salaries are now making $18,900, with the potential for increases depending on other sponsorship and media dollars.
The NWHL had immediate plans for Canadian expansion after the CWHL folded, but those plans changed after many of the world's best players opted to sit out this season saying they wanted a more sustainable league to play for. By sustainable, the women stated they were looking for a living wage and health insurance.
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