Tanenbaum’s Kilmer Sports Ventures invests in Professional Women’s Hockey League

The foundational support that launched the PWHL three years ago, along with the league’s continued funding to date, has been provided by Mark and Kimbra Walter, through the Mark Walter Group.

Mark Walter is also the owner and chairman of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Lakers, the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Sparks and other sports properties.

Tanenbaum, through Kilmer, is the founder and owner of the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo. He’s also a minority owner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the NHL’s Maple Leafs and NBA’s Raptors, among other Toronto-based sports properties, through Kilmer.

“We saw that opportunity first with the Tempo, Canada’s first WNBA team, and now we’re proud to deepen that commitment through this significant investment in the PWHL,” said Tanenbaum of investing more money into women’s sports. “What Mark Walter and PWHL senior leadership have built so quickly is incredible, and we’re honoured to be part of this league and everything it stands for.”

The Tempo and the City of Toronto announced on April 17 plans to develop the team’s first dedicated performance centre at Exhibition Place.

Scheduled to open in 2028, the purpose-built facility will serve as both a high-performance training home for the Tempo and a hub for grassroots engagement. The Tempo will use the centre to deliver development programming with community groups.

Ilitch Companies is the parent of Ilitch Sports + Entertainment, the owner of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and MLB’s Detroit Tigers, as well as Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit.

“The PWHL’s rise has been one of the most compelling stories in professional sports, and we are proud to be part of that story,” said Chris Ilitch, CEO of Ilitch Companies. “Investing in the PWHL means an opportunity to broaden the game’s reach, connect with new fans, and create pathways for athletes for generations to come.

“Our organization has long believed in the power of hockey to bring communities together and open doors for the next generation.”

Stan Kasten, a member of the PWHL’s advisory board as well as co-owner and president of the Dodgers, was enthusiastic about Tanenbaum and Illitch joining the league.

“This is so much more than just writing a cheque,” said Kasten. “To be able to include into our ownership people of this stature, people who are such savvy, longtime sports investors, is the clearest possible signal to all of the marketplaces, to fans, to sponsors, to media companies that we are well-established and growing.

“We have the support of people like this whose stature, whose experience, whose networks can help us grow even more and even faster.”

The eight-team league recently announced expansion franchises in Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose, bringing its total to 12 teams for the 2026-27 season.

Tanenbaum and Illitch are not buying stakes in individual teams as the PWHL intends to remain a league-owned business model for the foreseeable future.

“We are a single entity ownership model, which has been instrumental in our rapid growth,” said Kasten. “Our first game was 2 1/2 years ago. We thought it would take us 10 or 12 years to get up to 12 teams, but the response has been there from fans and from sponsors and it’s because we don’t have, right now at this stage, different owners with different budgets and different agendas and different considerations in their own unique markets.

“We don’t have any of those things to slow us down and so it has enabled us to grow this fast and growing fast was important.”

The PWHL said its sponsorship portfolio has grown 35 per cent year-over-year, e-commerce merchandise sales have increased by more than 50 per cent, and its social media channels have generated more than 682 million impressions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Tanenbaum’s Kilmer Sports Ventures invests in Professional Women’s Hockey League

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