[ad_1]
During the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, I spent my time watching the US Women's National Hockey Team beat Canada in the shootout to win their first gold medal since 1998. This match was attracted 3.0 million views on NBC Sports Network and 3.7 all platforms. According to Sports Media Watch, the audience covered solely by NBCSN exceeds all but five NHL retransmissions on the network.
There is always an appetite for more hockey, especially women's hockey. This year's Clarkson Cup attracted 175,000 viewers and the NWHL All-Star Game and Enthronement Competition brought together 945,000 viewers. But early Sunday morning, the CWHL announced that it was retiring after 12 seasons.
The news was shocking for both players and reporters, leaving the NWHL the only paid professional women's league in America and forcing the hockey community to wonder what the future of women's hockey would look like.
Is it possible to kiss a sport? Or as a league? Or maybe like everyone who participates? IDK I just want to give everyone a big hug tonight after a hard day.
– Michelle Jay (@ michelle_jay3) April 1, 2019
Calls to unite both CWHL and NWHL have increased over the last year. Jayna Hefford, Acting Commissioner of the CWHL, and Dani Rylan, NWHL Commissioner, negotiating the idea in April. The idea was that with one league instead of two, the talent pool would be centralized and easier to exploit. In the two-league system, most Canadian players played in the LCHW, and most US players played in the NWHL. A small group of international players was divided between the two.
But combining CWHL and NWHL for #OneLeague was going to be complicated. The CWHL was a non-profit organization that owned each team and distributed profits to the players. NWHL remains a for-profit company whose profits go to trading partners and investors. The reconciliation of these two economic models would have been the first of many obstacles to overcome.
In November, CWHL would have lost a major investor, even if the details are meager. The only reliable financial information we have is that players were getting between C $ 2,000 and C $ 10,000 per season – barely an allowance – and that an approximate budget for the entire league was set. approximately $ 3.7 million.
Apart from the financial details, the league proposal should have dealt with the division of the teams. Both leagues had teams in the Boston metropolitan area: the Worcester Blades and Boston Pride. It is unclear whether a single league could have maintained both teams – or whether the twelve teams from both leagues would have continued to exist without consolidation.
The potential participation of the NHL is important here. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman knows there is a market for women's hockey. He had the WNHL Brand name for years and openly talked about creating a female league – once there are no longer two female leagues. Bettman's approach has been reversed; He does not believe in the model, the NWHL, or the chances of success. Now that there is only one league left, it is not clear whether he or the NHL will support the NWHL. Bettman's position was to "start on a white table": a women's league that is fully controlled and managed by the NHL and generates substantial revenue. CWHL is opposed to this and the NWHL always does.
The enthusiasm for creating a unified league following the collapse of the CWHL has made some people nervous – unfortunately, hiding hundreds of women, 25 of whom headed to the world championships this week, who have learned that they had lost their job Sunday.
So, who manages the CBJ twitter account pic.twitter.com/ZTzPrDOTvu
– Ashley (@AshonIce) March 31, 2019
The announcement of the closing of the LCHF comes four days before the start of the IIHF World Championships in Finland. The CWHL players have not been warned in advance, and it is unbearable to think that stars like Marie-Philip Poulin, Hilary Knight and Brianna Decker have learned four days before representing their country that their main teams would stop to exist. Instead of focusing on competition and representing the sport, players will be asked about the fall of their league in each scrum.
And these media scrums, especially those of the mainstream media, are rare. Sportsnet has no tab for the CWHL, ESPN does not have a tab for the NWHL, and it is an exception, not a rule, that female hockey is covered by local newspapers. The latest Hartford Current article on Connecticut Whale is about head coach Ryan Equale and his time at UConn starting January 9, 2018. The Whale played a playoff game against Metro Riveters on March 7 without benefit of current coverage. NJ.com.
After Kendall Coyne-Schofield's fastest appearance in the NHL all-star game, media coverage improved. The NHL network staged a series of rivalries between the United States and Canada and secured rights for the upcoming IIHF World Championships.
But there are independent sites that make a reduction of this coverage, without constantly referring to the parents of the players or lower them. Ice Garden and The Victory Press are must-read publications for in-depth coverage of women's hockey.
We cover the capitals of Washington, but we realize that we also have an important role to play, with the traffic we drive and the public we have, to also cover the women's game, and we will continue to do so at the same time. to come up.
Very good question of @hailey_salvian why the questions of #Media should ask about #WomensHockey @RenataFast @ Ratt26 @ LauraStacey7 pic.twitter.com/isgXR0GQV1
– Senator Brant Feldman (@AGMSports) March 22, 2019
The future of professional women's hockey in America is uncertain. Hailey Salvian's report on athletics indicates that NWHL is considering the addition of two Canadian teams following the cessation of CWHL activities.
But not so long ago, the CWHL was the only North American professional league still in place, created after the collapse of the first wave of the NWHL and a merger with the defunct Western Women's League.
CWHL players know this story and are calling for a better future for posterity. "In five or ten years, I do not want to have the same conversation," Liz Knox, president of the ACLPSH, told the athlete. "I do not want to be in the same situation where we do not see sponsorship money or the media coverage we want, nor can we still rely on the players on our national team to promote the entire league."
Whatever the outcome, I know I will watch. Will you?
Title photo: @InfernoCWHL
[ad_2]
Source link
