The Future of The PWHL

January 1st 2024 was a pivotal day in the world of women’s hockey with the launching of the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

By all accounts it was a rousing success. Attendance was strong, as was the media exposure.

Also benefiting the league is its strong ownership (although the fact that all the teams are owned by the same business enterprise is something that needs to be rectified at some point, for competitive reasons) as well as having Billie Jean King (her aura and her history) leading the PWHL is a huge plus.

Will this league ultimately prove to be successful, whereas its predecessor, the Canadian Women's Hockey League wasn’t? Of course, only time will tell but some important things need to be clarified as we move forward.

First, dealing with the biggest elephant in the room. The potential success or failure of the PWHL is NOT a male/female issue. Simply put, if the league fails it’s not simply because men didn’t support it. That certainly may be a factor but blaming an entire gender for a business’ demise is simply lazy scapegoating.

The PWHL, and every other business product out there for that matter, is at the mercy of free market capitalism. For the league to survive and flourish it just needs to be a sustainable product that attracts all consumers who like sports.

One of the odd ironies about the PWHL is that it likely has a better chance of becoming a viable enterprise in the United States than it does in Canada.

Women’s sports - and sports in general - have a much deeper lineage in the U.S. One can thank college athletics for that because it’s not much of an oddity in the US to pay to attend a women’s sporting event and, by extension, that has created more of an appetite (and a fan base) for more professional women’s events.

Not so in Canada. If you took out all levels of women’s hockey there what marketable female alternatives are you left with? This is not a knock on women’s sports, it just says more about the lack of high end sports market development beyond hockey.

Canadian sports' fans (in general) don't have much beyond hockey to spend money on. Unfortunately this leads to a high level of hockey chauvinism amongst hockey fans, and in particular, male hockey fans.

They are very willing to pay to see the NHL and, on a lesser scale, junior hockey, but express little interest (and dollars) for the women’s game. Can they be won over? Who knows, but it's a cultural reality the PWHL needs be able to chip away at to flourish long term.

It is a smart move, however, that the PWHL decided to limit the inaugural season to “only” 24 games per team. That’s just enough to generate interest without the inherent risk of seeming too ambitious if the ticket revenue isn't there for a longer season. The hope, of course, is that this shorter season will help build huge fan anticipation for the one that follows.

One thing the PWHL really failed at is its branding. The league logo is passable but the member teams’ jerseys look pretty much the same. Yes, I've heard the explanation that jersey designs couldn't be completed before the scheduled opener but unfortunately that only helps build the case that the league isn't on par with other ambitious sporting endeavours.

The jersey of the PWHL's Montreal franchise

Cool jerseys with intriguing team mascots also could have gone a long way towards a decent injection of revenue through strategic merchandising. Consider this a golden opportunity squandered.

The PWHL did get it right however, with the rule tweak that nullifies a penalty, should the penalized team score while shorthanded.

The league needs more stuff like that.

Not changes for changes sake but real innovations that make hockey better as a whole. People need to see the PWHL, not so much as something novel but more so as a real alternative to the game as it already exists.

For inspiration you need to look no further than the Canadian Football League.

The CFL doesn't fool itself into thinking they're in direct competition with the NFL and doesn’t even try to. CFL fans revel in their game (and the players) being a distinctly different version of the game as it exists, and the innovation this league provides is exactly what keeps the fans happy.

The PWHL would do well by not providing more of what hockey already is but rather more of what the game isn’t.

Find the angles the NHL won’t touch.

Do something beyond their scope.

Beat them to a rule change.

Creating a truly unique product (beyond simple gender differences) that brings the game to another level is how you survive in the free market economy.