According to PWHL Advisory Board member Stan Kasten, there is "no plan to sell" and "no plan to cut back" on the PWHL. He says it's "all systems go" as the league heads toward a new season as a now 12-team league
PWHL Advisory Board member and Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten made clear statements this week. He said neither MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers, nor the PWHL or the league's 12 teams are going anywhere, and they are not for sale.
As Kasten told media regarding the PWHL, there is “no plan to sell, and no plan to cut back.”
He reiterated what the league and its investors have been saying all along that the PWHL is not a "temporary" league, or a "short-term" project. Rather, the league is here to stay permanently.
"It's all systems go with the PWHL," Kasten said.
That confidence is good news for fans, players, and the four new markets in Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas, and San Jose that will join the league this season. It's also good news for investors Chris Ilitch and Larry Tanenbaum whose companies became the first outside investors to the PWHL, providing an influx of more than $100 million into the league for operations.
It comes at a time when Mark Walter and his companies are under federal investigation from prosecutors, the SEC, and FBI into potential fraud. In the wake of those events, Walter sold off his majority stake in the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers at a $12.5 billion valuation. While the moves were, according to sources familiar with the situation, instigated long before this issue, Walter is also looking to sell his share of the Premier League's Chelsea FC, and also looked at selling his media rights deal for the Dodgers.
That said, Kasten's message about the PWHL was echoed related to MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers, widely considered the crown jewel of Mark Walter's sporting empire.
"The Dodgers are not being sold. They're not gonna be sold," Kasten said on Friday. "They're not for sale. There's no process that has been started to sell it, period. We are planning only to win."
Kasten said the Lakers sale was an "extraordinary opportunity" for Walter, which he took.
The issue relates to dealings and investments made by a pair of Walter controlled insurance companies, Delaware Life, and Cedar Springs Life, which made at least $16 billion in related-party investments back into other entities tied to Walter. It was a vast gap compared to the $1 billion in related-party investments originally reported to regulators by Walter's companies. It's been reported that Walter is now attempting to shuffle $6.5 billion of Delaware's investments and $90 million of Cedar Springs' from related, to independently classified.
Many believe this is where the current push for liquidity stems.
But Kasten attempted to dispel concerns the PWHL may be next in Walter's sell-off. With Tanenbaum putting in a reported $100 million, and Ilitch an unspecified amount, it appears that the buy in for the league is likely in that range - a minimum of $100 million. With the league now at 12 teams, all owned by Walter, there's more than a billion in franchises on the table.
In May, CNBC released their valuations for the WNBA's then 15 franchises, at an average value of $460 million, and with the Golden State Valkyries topping the list at $1 billion. Sportico put the averge NWSL franchise value at $184 million this year. It makes a $100 million investment for a PWHL franchise seem like a realistic minimum for a league that is exploding, and has yet to land a national American broadcasting deal, something the league will almost certainly secure following season five when their current deals expire.
While Kasten asserts the PWHL is going nowhere, the league and franchise values are one that will only grow within Walter's stable of investments. The fact that the PWHL value is on the rise may actually be the most important factor in Walter holding onto the league, but even guarantees can change if the right offer emerges.
For many PWHL fans, they are anxiously awaiting the day that the league moves away from single-entity ownership in order to provide players with better compensation and conditions compared to men's hockey players. Right now, the PWHL is locked into an eight-year CBA that was conceived prior to the player pool even being secured, and which was voted on by less than 30% of the league's players, a number which will shrink drastically each season. That CBA keeps salaries and other forms of compensation low, does not factor in expansion, and offers players nothing for media rights or merchandise.
Still, the league is thriving by every metric as the PWHL has reported massive year-over-year growth in attendance, merchandise sales, and engagement with fans. Moving from six, to eight, and now 12 teams, the PWHL is anticipating to set even more records in 2026-27.
