Olivia Wilk ‘25, Business/Ad Manager
Up until now, women did not have the same opportunities as men when it came to playing hockey. Men have grown up with the knowledge that they can go into the NHL, while women have not received that same belief. All of that changed recently when the Mark Walter Group founded the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
Now, women have something bigger to work towards and are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Junior Emily Mitchell said, “I think that it is a great way to get more girls into hockey, and it is also going to be a big change that was needed with girls’ hockey.” She continued, “I’m super excited to watch it grow and see more girls succeed in the sport they love.”
The PWHL consists of six different teams based out of Toronto, Ottawa, Minnesota, New York, Boston, and Montreal. Rosters were started in the summer of 2023 and didn’t play the first game until the next year. The first game was held on Jan. 1 when New York and Toronto played each other in Toronto’s home arena. The game attracted 2.9 million viewers all over the world, and the games were streamed over TSN, Sportsnet, CBC in Canada, and the league YouTube channel. That game was the number one watched sports or entertainment broadcast of the day. Five days later, when Minnesota and Montreal played each other, Minnesota set a new attendance record of 13,316 in its home debut at the Xcel Energy Center.
In the PWHL, the average salary is 55,000 dollars; whereas, the average salary in the NHL is 3.5 million dollars. Although the NHL has been around a lot longer and has a much wider fan base, the PWHL is still hoping to attract more fans and make more money. When the NHL first started in 1917, the average salary was around 20,000 dollars. Women deserve to be paid more money, and hockey fans as well as supporters of equality in pay and opportunity are hoping that it will happen in the hockey world with the creation of the PWHL.
If the PWHL keeps attracting fans and players, it has the potential to grow and improve way beyond our hopes and expectations. Junior Jillian Newhouse said, “I think the PWHL is a great start for women’s hockey and will improve greatly.” She added, “I think it will become big someday because they have already had a ton of viewers, and I think they will continue to get more viewers as the league moves forward.”
Although women have never been treated equally in the sports industry, this is a phenomenal start not only for women in hockey but women everywhere.
Lyon Life 