TORONTO – Toronto businessman Larry Tanenbaum is once more investing in women’s sports.
Tanenbaum’s Kilmer Sports Ventures and the Detroit-based Ilitch Corporations have officially bought into the Skilled Women’s Hockey League, being named strategic partners on Monday. A source told The Canadian Press that Kilmer invested US$100 million directly into the PWHL and that each firms shall be holding advisory somewhat than operational roles.
They’re the PWHL’s first outside investors because the league was established in 2023.
“Hockey is in our DNA as Canadians, and that keenness brought us to the PWHL as its first Canadian investor,” said Tanenbaum, Kilmer’s chairman. “Constructing world-class women’s sports organizations that encourage the subsequent generation of athletes, fans, and leaders is the way you create something that actually lasts.”
The foundational support that launched the PWHL three years ago, together with the league’s continued funding thus far, has been provided by Mark and Kimbra Walter, through the Mark Walter Group.
Mark Walter can be 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, amongst other Toronto-based sports properties, through Kilmer.
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“We saw that chance first with the Tempo, Canada’s first WNBA team, and now we’re proud to deepen that commitment through this significant investment within the PWHL,” said Tanenbaum of investing more cash into women’s sports. “What Mark Walter and PWHL senior leadership have built so quickly is incredible, and we’re honoured to be a part of this league and the whole lot it stands for.”
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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 function each 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 Corporations is the parent of Ilitch Sports + Entertainment, the owner of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and MLB’s Detroit Tigers, in addition to Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit.
“The PWHL’s rise has been one of the crucial compelling stories in skilled sports, and we’re proud to be a part of that story,” said Chris Ilitch, CEO of Ilitch Corporations. “Investing within the PWHL means a chance to broaden the sport’s reach, connect with latest fans, and create pathways for athletes for generations to return.
“Our organization has long believed in the facility of hockey to bring communities together and open doors for the subsequent generation.”
Stan Kasten, a member of the PWHL’s advisory board in addition to co-owner and president of the Dodgers, was smitten by Tanenbaum and Illitch joining the league.
“That is so far more than simply writing a cheque,” said Kasten. “To have the ability to incorporate into our ownership people of this stature, people who find themselves such savvy, longtime sports investors, is the clearest possible signal to all the marketplaces, to fans, to sponsors, to media firms that we’re well-established and growing.
“We’ve got the support of individuals like this whose stature, whose experience, whose networks may also help us grow much 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 usually not buying stakes in individual teams because the PWHL intends to stay a league-owned business model for the foreseeable future.
“We’re 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 might take us 10 or 12 years to rise up to 12 teams, however the response has been there from fans and from sponsors and it’s because we don’t have, right away at this stage, different owners with different budgets and different agendas and different considerations in their very 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 essential.”
The PWHL said its sponsorship portfolio has grown 35 per cent year-over-year, e-commerce merchandise sales have increased by greater than 50 per cent, and its social media channels have generated greater than 682 million impressions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press