The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), comprising four league-owned teams. Over time, some teams gained independent ownership and the number of teams grew to seven; teams during the league's final season in 2022–23 included the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Minnesota Whitecaps, Montreal Force, and Toronto Six. The Isobel Cup was awarded annually to the league playoff champion.
The PHF ceased operations on June 29, 2023, after the league and its intellectual properties were purchased by Mark Walter Group and BJK Enterprises, led by Mark Walter and Billie Jean King, respectively. Both businesses had entered a partnership with the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) in May 2022, with the intent to create a new, unified professional women's ice hockey league in North America. On August 29, 2023, the partners announced the formation of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), which began play in January 2024.
History Foundation and inaugural season (2015–2016) The National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) was formed by Dani Rylan in March 2015 with an estimated $2.5 million operating budget. It was the first professional women's hockey league to pay its players salaries. Prior to the league's formation, the top level of women's hockey in North America was the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL), a non-profit league that covered team costs and offered bonuses and incentives but not salaries. Rylan had been in discussions with the CWHL about founding a New York-based expansion franchise before opting to build a new league in the U.S. instead. The league's inaugural season in 2015–16 ran on a salary cap of US$270,000, with a $10,000 minimum per player. Players also earned 15% of profits from NWHL jerseys sold with their name on them. The league placed its four original teams in markets with high levels of female youth participation in ice hockey: the New York City area, Buffalo, and New England. Rylan did not disclose the league's initial investors or how much had been invested. Canadian Joel Leonoff, CEO of Paysafe Group and father of Connecticut Whale goaltender Jaimie Leonoff, later spoke about his investment in the league but declined to reveal specifics.
The inaugural NWHL Draft took place in Boston in June 2015, with each team selecting five collegiate athletes. The league held tryout camps in various locales in Canada, along with an international player camp in Boston. The league attracted many top-level U.S. national team stars from the CWHL, such as Hilary Knight and former Team USA captain Meghan Duggan, top graduating players from the NCAA, and international players.
In December 2015, the league signed its first league-wide sponsorship deal, a multi-year deal with Dunkin' Donuts. On December 31, 2015, the Boston Pride played the CWHL's Les Canadiennes de Montréal to a 1–1 tie in the first Women's Winter Classic, one day before the 2016 NHL Winter Classic and at the same site, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It was the first outdoor professional women's hockey game ever held, and the first game between the NWHL and CWHL. The 1st NWHL All-Star Game took place on January 24, 2016, in Buffalo. The game featured a 4-on-4 format with Hilary Knight of the Boston Pride and Emily Pfalzer of the Buffalo Beauts serving as team captains.
On March 12, 2016, the Boston Pride became the first Isobel Cup champions with a 3–1 win over the Buffalo Beauts to secure a 2–0 series win.
Structural changes and NHL partnerships (2016–2019) On August 4, 2016, the league announced each team would introduce new uniform designs voted on by fans. Two days earlier, the league announced a partnership with You Can Play, an organization dedicated to eradicating homophobia in sport. Each team in the league hosted a You Can Play athlete-ambassador, and would begin to develop a policy in regards to transgender players. This initiative was in response to the October 2016 announcement that Buffalo Beauts player Harrison Browne was transgender—the first openly transgender athlete in professional American team sports.
On November 17, 2016, part way into the league's second season, the NWHL informed players that they would receive up to a 50% pay cut. This decreased the league minimum salary to $5,000. Five weeks later, in an attempt to partially compensate for the salary rollback, the league introduced an incentive program where players split revenue generated by tickets sold in excess of 500 after each game.
In September 2017, the league joined 16 other international hockey organizations in formally adopting the NHL's Declaration of Principles, with the goal of advancing teaching, policies, and programs to strengthen hockey communities around the world.
In October 2017, the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) partnered with the Riveters, becoming the first NHL team to partner with an NWHL team. The three-year partnership provided facilities for Riveters games and practices, and assisted with sponsorships, marketing, and tickets; some Riveters games were broadcast on The One Jersey Network, the Devils' digital radio station as well. The Riveters changed their name from the New York to the Metropolitan Riveters and adopted the Devils' colors. As part of the new affiliation, the Riveters and Devils held a doubleheader at the Prudential Center for the Riveters' 2017–18 season opener against the Boston Pride, followed by the Devils' game against the Arizona Coyotes.
On December 21, 2017, the Buffalo Beauts were acquired by Pegula Sports and Entertainment, owners of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, the Rochester Americans, and the Beauts' arena, the HarborCenter. The Beauts thus became the second NWHL team to become affiliated with an NHL franchise—and the first professional women's team to be owned by an NHL team owner—as well as the first NWHL franchise outside league ownership.
On May 15, 2018, the league announced its first expansion franchise, the Minnesota Whitecaps, would join the league for the 2018–19 season. The Whitecaps had played in the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL) from 2004 to 2011. Following the WWHL's closure, the team played independently, including exhibition games against NWHL teams during the inaugural 2015–16 season. The Whitecaps signed a partnership agreement with the NHL's Minnesota Wild, with whom the Whitecaps had already cooperated as an independent, in the 2018 off-season. The Whitecaps were the second privately operated franchise in the NWHL.
In August 2018, the NWHL also began an affiliation program with youth hockey organizations, called the Jr. NWHL, to promote growth in girl's and women's hockey.
After a call for more transparency, the league announced it would reveal some league investors and their stories over the 2018–19 season. The first league investor to be revealed was Neil Leibman, co-owner of the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball. The second announced was Lee Heffernan, a marketing executive.
In January 2019, the Boston Pride and the NHL's Boston Bruins officially became promotional partners, making the Pride the fourth NWHL team associated with an NHL team. During the 2018–19 season, commissioner Rylan stated that the Minnesota Whitecaps were the first NWHL team to turn a profit.
CWHL dissolution and aftermath (2019–2021) On March 31, 2019, it was announced that the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) board of directors had decided to discontinue operations effective May 1, 2019. Early in 2019, NWHL commissioner Rylan had been in talks with the CWHL about a possible merger. In response to the CWHL's abrupt folding, The Athletic reported that the NWHL was exploring Canadian expansion to fill the markets left by the CWHL, targeting Toronto, Montreal, and potentially Calgary. On April 2, 2019, the NWHL announced plans for two expansion franchises in Montreal and Toronto and increased support from the NHL, making it one of the NWHL's biggest financial sponsors. However, in the wake of the CWHL's collapse, it became clear that players from both leagues were dissatisfied in the operation of both leagues and a lack of livable salaries, health insurance, and other benefits. On May 2, over 200 players released a joint statement announcing their intent to boycott all North American professional hockey for the 2019–20 season.
The NWHL responded that it was pursuing more sponsors than in previous years, hoped to increase player salaries, and agreed to give players a 50% split of revenue on league sponsorship and media deals. On May 20, 2019, boycotting players formed the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) to organize toward a unified league providing financial and infrastructure resources to players, health insurance, and support to training programs for young female players.
On May 8, 2019, Pegula Sports and Entertainment relinquished ownership and operations of the Beauts back to the NWHL. On May 17, it was reported that the New Jersey Devils were ending their partnership with the Riveters. With these partnerships dissolved, both teams changed their home venues.
On May 30, 2019, the NWHL announced that due to no additional investments, the league would not be able to increase to full-time salaries or provide players with health insurance outside of the typical worker's compensation for injuries, but it had come to an agreement to a 50% revenue split on all league-wide sponsorship and media deals. In addition, the league stated it would not add teams in Montreal or Toronto for the 2019–20 season. The league announced a longer 2019–20 season, increasing from 16 to 24 games. The NWHL Players Association called the negotiated agreement a "breakthrough" that represented the first "substantial gains" players had made since the formation of the league.
In September 2019, the Boston Pride were purchased by a group of investors led by Miles Arnone. On April 22, 2020, the NWHL announced the awaited expansion team for Toronto, bringing the league to Canada for the first time. The Toronto Six began play in the 2020–21 season. Johanna Neilson Boynton was announced as the team owner, Tyler Tumminia as the team chairman, and Digit Murphy as team president.
On October 12, 2020, Rylan stepped down as commissioner and was replaced by Tyler Tumminia as interim commissioner. Also, the league changed its governing model to an incorporated association overseen by a board of governors with one representative from each team. Rylan remained with the league to oversee the Beauts, Whale, Riveters, and Whitecaps, while searching for independent ownership of the league operated teams. Rylan left that role in March 2021.
Premier Hockey Federation (2021–2023)
Ahead of the 2021–22 season, Tumminia announced that the player salary cap would be doubled to $300,000. On May 10, 2021, the league announced it had sold the Connecticut Whale to a new independent ownership group called Shared Hockey Enterprises (SHE), LLC, led by Tobin Kelly, reducing the number of league-operated teams to three. On May 26, the league announced that the Riveters had been sold to BTM Partners, owners of the Boston Pride and Toronto Six, with John Boynton named as the team's chairman. The NWHL finished selling its league-operated teams to independent ownership with the sale of the Buffalo Beauts and Minnesota Whitecaps to a joint partnership of NLTT Ventures, LLC, and Top Tier Sports on June 28.