Women’s Premier Hockey Federation inks two-year broadcasting deal with ESPN

After debuting on the ESPN family of networks last season, the PHF will continue with ESPN through 2023-24.

The Boston Pride won the 2022 Isobel Cup, defeating the Connecticut Whale, 4-2, in a game that was televised on ESPN2.Read moreMARY SCHWALM / AP

Published Aug. 24, 2022, 2:27 p.m. ET

ESPN will once again be the broadcasting home for the Premier Hockey Federation next season, after the two parties agreed to an extension through the 2023-24 season.

The women’s hockey league debuted on ESPN platforms last season, with the majority of the games available on ESPN+. The league’s championship, the Isobel Cup, aired on ESPN2 in March, marking the first time a professional women’s league game appeared on one of the network’s primary two channels. This season, the majority of the games will once again be carried on ESPN+, with select games expected to be on cable television.

“Extending our valued relationship with ESPN over the next two years ensures we can showcase talented athletes and competitive action on the ice, share incredible stories off the ice, provide our partners with a platform to connect with fans, and engage our dedicated fan base while introducing the PHF to a larger worldwide audience,” league commissioner Reagan Carey said in a release.

The 2022-23 season will be the eighth season of the PHF, which will add an expansion franchise in Montreal this season to bring the number of teams in the league to seven. The league’s other six teams are based in Boston, Buffalo, Connecticut, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Toronto.

The news comes just days after the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association announced its plans for the 2022-23 season. The PWHPA, which includes some of the world’s top players, including many of the members of the United States and Canadian Olympic teams, has been planning to form its own new league.

The PWHPA was formed in 2019 after the dissolution of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, with the goal to build a sustainable women’s professional hockey league in North America. American stars Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield and Canadians Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse are among the most high-profile players associated with the PWHPA.

This fall, the PWHPA will complete the Secret® Dream Gap Tour, which will see players make weekend stops in five North American cities, and include one new special event. The locations and further details about the tour will be announced later this month.

For now, the PWHPA will consist of four teams of 25 players, with 43 Olympians and 75 players with professional experience expected to participate this fall. Jayna Hefford, operations consultant for the PWHPA, believes this season has a chance to be a landmark one for women’s hockey.

“Coming into our fourth season, we continuously look for ways to increase opportunities for our players to compete as we move towards our ultimate goal of a professional league,” said Hefford in the PWHPA’s release. “We also want to continue to provide an exciting product for hockey fans to enjoy, and we’re confident this will be our biggest, most competitive season to date. The depth of talent in women’s hockey increases every year and we’re excited to continue to support our world-class athletes and provide a platform for the best players in the world to perform.”

The news from both leagues comes following the 2022 Beijing Olympics and at a pivotal moment for the future of women’s hockey. In spite of an 11:15 p.m. ET puck drop, February’s Olympic gold medal game between the United States and Canada drew 3.54 million viewers on NBC, making it the most-watched men’s or women’s hockey game of the year on any network, and the second most-watched hockey game on NBC since 2019.