NWHL In Financial Distress

The NWHL is struggling financially and once again, Bettman decides to be a sexist pig.

The women will be fighting for their wages with a large scale boycott.

200 women’s hockey players have pledged a boycott of all North American professional women’s hockey leagues until the leagues pay their players livable wages.

Hilary Knight, love of my life, released a statement on her twitter discussing why they have chosen to do this boycott.

She also shared this beautifully inspiring video:

Earlier, the Canadian Women's Hockey League drowned and had to disband to cut their financial losses.

All of those players now had one option: play for the NWHL of move to another country and play for them.

Although, moving to an entirely new country isn't really an option when they're only being paid $2,000 a season.

Originally, the two leagues were going to merge, but unfortunately, the Canadian league fell before that could happen.

Now, the NWHL is left to fight this battle on their own. The goal is to get more support from the NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman.

Men are only good for their money and Bettman isn't even good for that.

Once the CWHL folded, Bettman hardly agreed to a salary raise. The multi-millionaire upped his annual contribution from $50,000 to $100,000.

Sounds like a lot but remember: this guy makes at least 10 million dollars a season and the boys make well over that per season too.

Refresh your memory with my article on the pay gap in sports!

Bettman supports the NWHL in his own backasswards way. During the 2018 Hockey Hall of Fame induction press conference, Bettman stated, “there are two leagues. The business models are a little challenged. I’m not sure there’s enough talent at this point in time for two leagues under the right circumstances.”

Get bent, Bettman. The talent is there, but you refuse to showcase it.

As Knight and other players pointed out, some of them only make $2,000 a season which is less than a minimum wage part time employees earnings. They also don't even get health insurance.

These women are charging each other with blades on their feet and they don't get health insurance. Cool.

The NWHL is hoping this boycott will put more pressure on the NHL and increase its financial contributions. They're also hoping to show that NHL does in fact support women's sports.

The NHL gives away more in prize money to fans than their contribution to the women’s league. The NWHL is most certainly not asking for much.

And! There’s history of the NHL helping in the past. Several teams have partnered with the NWHL and allowed the women to host their own games at the men’s practice facilities. They’ve also helped with marketing and promotions.

The NHL helped to resolve a salary dispute between the USA Hockey and the women’s national team too. This was done in an effort to avoid a boycott of the 2017 World Championship.

Supposedly, NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan has met with Bettman and they are discussing the NHL’s contributions. They have every reason to believe the NWHL will be expanded to include teams in Toronto and Montreal next season.

Personally, I would love an expansion. I want a 32-team league that outsells the NHL.

A girl can dream, right?

How will you support the NWHL? Do you think Bettman is right not to help? Let me know in the comments below!