It’s been quiet since the June 30 announcement that a new women’s professional hockey league would launch in January 2024. But quiet doesn’t mean stagnant.
A lot of work is being done behind the scenes between finalizing team locations, locking up venues, creating logos, hiring hockey operations staff and more.
More details on the league are expected to come during a big press conference sometime this month, Stan Kasten, one of the leaders of the new league, said in an interview with The Athletic in July.
Until then, here’s what The Athletic has been hearing over the last several weeks about where teams might be located and how rosters will be built.
Where will the teams be located?
It’s what everybody wants to know. However, selecting the original cities is a complicated process that is taking some time to complete.
The biggest hurdle: Venues.
Some otherwise ideal women’s hockey markets might not have facilities that check the necessary boxes. An ideal women’s hockey venue would be easy to travel to within its metro area. An arena shouldn’t be too big, but you also don’t want to put a ceiling on how much money you can draw from ticket revenues. You need adequate locker rooms for players. Training facilities. Prime ice time windows — gone are the days of 10…
