Less than 48 hours after the news broke that the National Women’s Hockey League will slash its players’ pay in half to keep the league alive, the league’s players have come together to respond. In a plea for transparency, the players formally asked the NWHL for better communication on the financial situation.
National Women’s Hockey League players respond to salary cuts with a plea for transparency
High profile NWHL players have spoken out on the league’s latest financial situation.
Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
You can read the statement below:
The players in the NWHL are being asked to make sacrifices by taking pay cuts for the benefit of the League. We are willing to work with the League, but there must be transparency and open communication between both the League and the players about the current status of the League. The players have asked the league for the following information:
1. Proof of valid insurance to ensure that the players are not risking their health by playing and practicing;
2. To have an independent third party audit the League’s finances right away to ensure that sound financial practices are being employed and to ensure that the League will have sufficient funds to pay the players going forward;
3. To let the players know the identity of the League’s investors;
4. To explain why the League’s revenues have diminished so markedly. For example, are there sponsors that have not met their financial commitments to the League? In addition, what has the League done to maximize ticket revenues at the venues used by the League?
We hope that the League is willing to provide satisfactory responses to these questions and that we can work with the League to help resolve the current situation.
The response did not come from the NWHLPA, the player’s association for the NWHL, but from the players themselves, who posted the statement on Twitter. Prominent NWHL players including Hilary Knight, Megan Bozek, Meghan Duggan, and Amanda Kessel all tweeted the same message in hopes that the NWHL discloses its financial troubles with them.
According to Brant Feldman, an agent for many NWHL players, the message was emailed this morning to NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan, the NWHL CFO, and general managers.
The players were not involved in the decision to cut pay 50 percent, and the news has left many across the league in disarray.
Kessel, a New York Riveters forward, and Kelli Stack, a Connecticut Whale forward, are the NWHL’s highest paid players, at $26,000. The league minimum is $10,000, and many players make between $17,000 and $14,000.
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