The National Women’s Hockey League announced Friday that players will receive a bonus from ticket revenues retroactive to December 1.
The agreement between the NWHL and the NWHL Players Association that represents players from all four teams worked on the initiative which states that for each game both home and visiting players will receive a 50/50 revenue split for games that have more than 500 fans in attendance.
From NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan:
“The decision to have the players benefit from strong attendance came out of recent discussions about how we can grow our league and business together.
“We’re very happy to offer this to the players and be the only women’s hockey league in North America that not only compensates its players, but provides attendance-based bonuses. The players make our league, and they deserve this. Our fans should know that when they come out to see NWHL games and fill the stands, they are supporting our amazing players in a big way.”
New York Riveters defenseman Ashley Johnston, is the NWHLPA representative as well as captain, went on to speak on the cooperation between the league and the players. “It demonstrates the unique opportunity we, as players, have in being able to lay down the foundations of a professional female hockey league. This platform will aid players in financially sustaining their dreams of being a professional athlete and continue to be a role model for every kid who is looking up to them, dreaming to wear a NWHL jersey one day. I’m excited to continue working with the league in making the NWHL the best place for players to play and for fans to enjoy the incredible sport of hockey,” she said.
The NWHL went onto give an example of how the bonus structure would work:
When the Boston Pride hosted the Connecticut Whale on Dec. 3 and drew a capacity crowd of 750, the players from both teams shared all of the revenue from the 250 tickets sold over the 500-seat mark. The attendance-related payout is a bonus beyond each player’s salary.
The league also went on to say that NWHL players also receive 15 percent from sales of their respective jerseys and shirseys.
Nobody cares about this league. But yet, they will continue pushing it upon us.