Re: NWHL Announcement Event On Tuesday In Saint Paul
Great article. Interesting. I have wondered all along what the Boycotting players are looking for. You will never find a bigger supporter of women's athletics then me. I went to a Pride game last year before they made the deal with the Bruins. I bought a ticket the day of the game with no issue. You have to have a market. Look what happened to the CWHL and the Boston Womens soccer team the "Breakers". They folded because they didn't have enough money. It almost feels like some of the players have a personal vendatta against Dani Rylan. Hockey careers are limited for men and women....sad to see so many sit out.
Feels like?
Yes, It is both a power struggle and personal.
Three reasons why there is a war between the Playerz and the NWHL(Rylan):
1) Originally, the CWHL had Rylan adding another team to the CWHL, instead, Rylan started the NWHL, and to make matter worse, added an NWHL team in Boston.
2) The NWHL paid its players, eventually forcing the CWHL to pay theirs.
3) The NWHL cut player’s salaries in half.
4) The CWHL folds, while the NWHL lives on.
I said back in 2015 just before the NWHL came online that the players should start their own league. Since revenue likely wouldn’t allow a decent salary, players could earn equity in the league, and perhaps 10 years down the road they’d be looking at a nice profit.
Starting one now is late on two accounts:
1) There is an established league to compete with.
2) They waited too long after the Olympics, timing is everything. People, especially young girls are more interested in futbol.
It doesn’t mean they will fail, just that the hill is even steeper to climb.
I think their real opponent is the person they're carrying water for: Gary Bettman. I think they're being played. If the NHL's proposal that has them all turned against the NWHL is so much better for everyone, then the NHL should move forward with it and the market will decide which league is best. The players will go where they get the best deal and any sponsorship or media rights deals will follow the league with the most stars.
Bettman has the best players in the sport convinced that they should starve the NWHL to death on his behalf. But with no other league to go to once they've done that, how do they hold him to his promises?
no, the players have convinced themselves they should starve the NWHL to death.
I’m sorry to hear your daughter spent 15 years preparing for a career that doesn’t exist, perhaps she should have taken classes in a major outside of CLA.
The problem is, you are listening to the fake news, here is what Bittman has said:
“What we have said is, if there’s no opportunity for women to play professional hockey, then we would explore what would make sense or might be appropriate,”
“But by the same token, I didn’t want to be presumptuous or be even bully-like and say we’re going to start a league and put them out of business. I didn’t think that was appropriate. If the NWHL is successful, great. That’s terrific.”
“I’ve told [NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan] that if she is successful, we will not interfere. But ultimately it’s on her and her investors to either make a go of this or not and it’s up to the players to decide what they want. But if there is a void, then we will focus on what might be appropriate at the time,”
"To me, it's not about an economic opportunity. I don't think anybody will ever get rich, certainly for the foreseeable future, from a women's hockey league. But the opportunities are there to encourage the growth and development of women's hockey at all levels."
the revenue just isn't there for women's pro hockey and adding another league has only returned the players back to where they started, another bad model for a league, and two leagues when there isn't really room for one
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