What PHF Meteoric Salary Rise Means For Women’s Hockey, And Women’s Sports Writ-Large

The news on Wednesday — that the Premier Hockey Federation, the women’s hockey league formerly known as the NWHL — had increased its salary cap for the 2023-24 season to $1.5 million per team reverberated beyond the women’s hockey world itself.

Coming on the same day as the WNBA announcing that it was delaying expansion beyond its previously stated preferred timetable, it was hard for many to avoid noticing that the new salary caps for the younger league — still less than a decade old — will exceed that of the WNBA cap by 2024, which checks in at $1,463,200, according to the current collective bargaining agreement.

This is not to suggest that the two leagues are in competition. Instead, it is part of the same women’s sports growth story that has lifted the National Women’s Soccer League as well, even amid the NWSL’s reckoning over abuse. Indeed, in the first-ever collective bargaining agreement between the NWSL and the NWSLPA, signed earlier this year, the salary cap increased from $682,500 in 2021 to $1.1 million in 2022. The WNBA salary cap of $996,000 in 2019 increased to only $1.3 million in 2020. The WNBA’s lead on this front has now disappeared.

It is notable that while the WNBA’s $75 million capital raise in early 2022 did not change any of the salaries in the league — though insiders would argue the raise itself helps pay for the increase agreed to in the 2020 CBA — the PHF explicitly tied this increase in salaries to the $25 million cash infusion agreed to by the league’s owners this past January.

“This historic salary cap increase reflects the strength of our league and developing business model, and supports an enhanced player experience that over the last year has introduced full healthcare benefits, facility upgrades, league expansion, and a record 84-game schedule,” Reagan Carey, PHF Commissioner, said in a statement Wednesday. “We know how dedicated and selfless these players are to building more opportunities for women in sport, and the PHF is committed to prioritizing our support of these talented and skilled players on and off the ice. Players, alumni, staff, coaches, volunteers, partners, ownership, and our passionate fans have all been working towards ensuring full-time professional hockey is a career path for women.”

But the PHF is powering its growth in ways far beyond money from current owners alone. A two-year deal with ESPN+ and TSN both ensure the widest audience possible for PHF while the financial piece of those partnerships comes amid an overall high in total sponsorship dollars, according to the league.

Nor did the good news stop there. The PHF announced Thursday that its All Star Weekend would take place in Toronto, with a round-robin, three-team tournament consisting of American, Canadian and global players, which will be seen at 7 PM ET on ESPN2 and TSN. Teams will be announced in the coming weeks.

The total picture is of a league that is following through on the promises of rapid growth from Carey, who assumed the role of commissioner in April 2022.

“We will not stop here, and are very proud to continue our track record of establishing new records for women’s professional hockey,” said Carey. “The PHF was the first league to pay its players back in 2015, and our commitment to building the best home for women’s professional hockey requires us to continue leading the way forward. Greater financial opportunities for athletes is part of the new PHF era. We are doing the work, and we are seeing the results.”

And with those results, it puts pressure on other women’s leagues to raise their own salaries as well. Because all over women’s sports, people are taking notice of what’s happening in the PHF.