Chelsea co-owner launches new women's hockey league

Mark Walter, owner of baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers and co-owner of English League side Chelsea, is launching a North American professional women's ice hockey league next year / © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

Mark Walter, the co-owner of Premier League side Chelsea and baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, will finance a North American women's ice hockey league in 2024 after settling a long-running dispute.

The new league will launch next January with an unknown number of clubs after Walter and wife Kimbra announced they had acquired assets of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), a seven-team league with US and Canadian clubs, and struck a deal with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA).

The league and union had been at odds for years over a contract, prompting the union to stage its own events opposite league seasons.

"I've always believed that professional sports should bring the highest levels of performance and organization, and this new league will have the backing and resources it needs to represent the very best of women's hockey," Mark Walter said.

He is controlling owner of Major League Baseball's Dodgers and the Women's NBA Los Angeles Sparks and co-general partner of Chelsea.

Board members of the new league will include tennis legend Billie Jean King, World Team Tennis commissioner Ilana Kloss and Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten.

"This is an extraordinary opportunity to advance women's sports," King said. "I have no doubt this league can capture the imagination of fans and a new generation of players."

The PHF fielded teams last season in Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo, suburban New York, Connecticut and Minnesota.