By Canadian Press

Work just beginning for the point man of new women’s professional hockey league

Jul 6, 2023 | 1:11 AM

A league name and logo, cities where teams will be located and a game schedule top Stan Kasten’s to-do list.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ president, whose boss and Dodgers owner Mark Walter is the financial backer of a new professional women’s hockey league, is the point man getting the women’s league up and running for a planned January start.

“I have so many people all over the place, working as fast as they can on my one-million-item, to-do list,” Kasten told The Canadian Press.

Walter buying out the seven-team rival Premier Hockey Federation and his group negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association (PWHPA) — all announced within the last week — cleared the deck for the new women’s pro league.

Kasten wants to go public with the three items atop his list in the next 30 to 60 days, but another critical business item is the NHL’s involvement.

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After PWHPA membership voted to ratify the CBA collective bargaining agreement Sunday, Kasten said the first person he called was PWHPA lead and Hockey Hall of Famer Jayna Hefford.

His second call was to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who said in Montreal in January “if it ever gets figured out, we’ll be more than supportive.”

“We’ve had numerous calls. We have more scheduled,” Kasten told The Canadian Press.

“Any kind of co-operation we get from the NHL would be a huge shot in our arm. I think they’re going to be more than just bystanders.

“This is good for the world. It’s good for hockey. It’s good for women’s hockey. It’s good for the NHL. The NHL having anything to do with us would be really good for all of our players.”

The NHL has owned the rights to the trademark “WNHL” for over two decades, but Kasten would not reveal if it is a name under consideration for the women’s league.

Nor would he elaborate on the possible city locations of three teams in Canada and three in the United States, although The Associated Press has reported Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, London, Ont., Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and New York are all under consideration.

“We are going to start small so that we perfect our model, and our game presentation, and our organization with hopes of very soon, once we prove our own concept to ourselves, we intend to expand, not just domestically, but eventually we hope to expand internationally,” Kasten said.

“Yes, it’s going to cost Mark a lot of money, but Mark was determined to do this. We think it’ll pay off eventually. The main other thing you need to know about Mark, we didn’t plan for this to be short term. 

“We didn’t even plan for this to be long term. We plan for this to be permanent.”

Walter is also a co-owner of the Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club, has an ownership stake in the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and also owns the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

Kasten, Dodgers senior vice-president of business strategy Royce Cohen, tennis great Billie Jean King and former tennis pro Ilana Kloss are on the women’s hockey league board. 

King and Kloss, also minority owners in the Dodgers, became backers of the PWHPA’s vision for a pro league when it formed in 2019, Hefford said. 

King founded the WTA in 1975.

“Billie Jean and Ilona said ‘if you guys really want to see change happen, you need to form a players’ association, create a united voice, you need to stick together and stand up for change,'” Hefford said.

“I think (Mark) really believed he could help create some change here and support female athletes that really needed it. Based on things that he’s done, he’s not afraid to invest in things.”

Kasten says King as well as Kloss participated in negotiations with the PWHPA’s bargaining unit.

The players at the bargaining table included Canadian team members Sarah Nurse and Brianne Jenner and U.S. players Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hilary Knight.

“Kendall, she’s a fierce, amazing leader and we followed her lead,” Jenner said of her on-ice rival. “She was tireless in getting this done.”

In addition to a salary range between US$35,000 to $80,000, 23-player rosters, per diem, commercial rights and trade protocols, the CBA includes competition bonuses, a retirement plan, housing stipend, long-term disability, life and health insurance, workers’ compensation, maternity leave and a dependent care assistance program.

“Mark and Billie Jean were determined to make this a league where women hockey players had the rights and protections and facilities and conditions that all elite athletes deserve,” Kasten said.

“I will tell you this. I’ve been part of collective bargaining with professional athletes. The attitude of wanting to pitch in, help out and make this a success, with this group of athletes, far exceeds anything I’ve ever been associated with.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2023.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press