More like first date phase. The flirtation is still in high gear.Its a good start, but they're still in the honeymoon phase.
A major reason is that there's no competitor league.Here's a question for those in the know who have followed this that I've wanted answered for a while.
Why now?
This isn't the first professional women's hockey league. There have been a bunch over the years.
So what is different about this one? Why is this one experiencing the success that the others didn't?
Is it really a case of they finally got an investor willing to put in the money to promote it properly?
So the REAL answer to @LPHabsFan 's question is: "The PWPHA finally got their way." I'll refrain from implicating them in the whole COVID thing.... We almost had it after the CWHL collapsed, but it got tied up with COVID and the PWHPA.
PWHL expansion will be an interesting story to watch because they have to be careful. There is probably a big demand but I'd think one of the reasons the league has had success is that by keeping it six teams, it keeps the quality of play fairly close to the standard of the Canada/USA games which we knew people would happily watch. A 12 team PWHL, for example, in 2025 wouldn't be near the same level.Mark Walter is starting to look incredibly smart right now. He's managed to catch the massive wave of interest in women's sports. An NBA expansion fee is over $50m. What would a PWHL expansion fee be worth? $20m?
It’s not that crazy to believe that young boys are superior athletes than grown adult women. I don’t know much about basketball, but in soccer an under 15 boys team beat the US national women’s team.Rebecca Lobo recounts sexist remark from referee while coaching her son's team
Legendary women's basketball star and broadcaster Rebecca Lobo shared a troubling example of sexism she encountered while coaching her son's youth basketball team.sports.yahoo.com
But there are still dinosaurs out there
Mark Walter is starting to look incredibly smart right now. He's managed to catch the massive wave of interest in women's sports. An NBA expansion fee is over $50m. What would a PWHL expansion fee be worth? $20m?
Wasn't long ago that any mention of women's hockey would have a bunch of people here coming out of the woodwork to declare nobody would ever watch / it would never be successful. Haven't seen any of them in a while..