Today the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) has announced that they have closed a new round of funding for the league that will ensure viability and future growth for the league.
The funding round was lead by IT entrepreneur Andy Scurto, and includes co-owner of MLB’s Texas Rangers Neil Leibman, the Vice Chairman of the PaySafe Group Joel Leonoff, former co-owner of the New Jersey Devils Michael Gilfillan, Founding Partner of the W Agency in Atlanta Lee Heffernan, and the Managing Director at the Silvercrest Asset Management Group in New York Matthew Arpano.
“It’s a privilege for me to participate in the NWHL and to join my partners in the league in driving growth for the future. The NWHL is a strong league that has implemented a great model for supporting the athletes. Having been very involved with youth hockey as my daughter has played for many years, I see the value sports has to offer and I’m especially passionate about building women’s professional ice hockey for the current and future generations of players. The NWHL and the players have advanced the sport and the league beyond its startup phase, and there is more to come in the years ahead.”
—- Andy Scurto
For the NWHL, they will be using the capital from this growth round to increase infrastructure, and enhance player development amongst other initiatives for the growth of the league.
This announcement also marks the first time that the NWHL has become transparent with who some of the investors of the league are, which is a monumental step for the league as they work to strive to become more transparent to the media and to the fans as to how the league is operated.
Also with today’s announcement Kristina Rutherford of Sportsnet is reporting that there is a possiblity that the NWHL could expand into Canada, with Toronto being a prime location, for next season thanks to today’s announcement.
The @NWHL is looking into expanding to the Greater Toronto Area, sources tell @KrRutherford.https://t.co/FjTPAeVZzx
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 14, 2019
Today’s announcement is a stepping stone for both the NWHL and Women’s Hockey as a whole as they continue to make great strides to grow the game.
*Graphic courtesy of the NWHL.
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