Dani Rylan

Dani Rylan Kearney (born August 5, 1987) is an American entrepreneur and former ice hockey player. She is the founder and former commissioner of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL),[1][2] the first professional women's hockey league in the United States, and the first professional women's hockey league ever to pay its players in North America.[3] Prior to launching the league in March 2015, Rylan attempted to bring a CWHL expansion team to New York in 2014.[4] She previously played with the Northeastern Huskies women's ice hockey program in NCAA play and was a captain in her final season.

Dani Rylan
Personal information
Born (1987-08-05) August 5, 1987
Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Height5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Sport
SportIce Hockey
PositionLeft Wing
College teamNortheastern

Early life and playing career

Rylan began playing ice hockey with boys on the Tampa Bay Junior Lightning as an elementary school student.[5] She attended boarding school at the St. Mark's School in New England and was captain of the girls' hockey team.[5]

Prior to joining Northeastern University, Rylan played one season with Division II program Metro State, a men's team that competes in the American Collegiate Hockey Association. She earned a broadcasting journalism degree at Metro State in 2010.[6]

Career stats
SeasonTeamGPGAPPIMPPGSHGGWG
2010–11[7]Northeastern37371020001
2011–12Northeastern33371016002

Executive career
Rylan presents the Isobel Cup to the Buffalo Beauts in 2017.

Rylan was inspired to create a women's league while watching the United States and Canadian national teams play in the finals of the 2014 Winter Olympics and began researching the new business opportunity.[5] She began calling people she knew in ice hockey circles and the plans for the league began within a year.[5] She contacted players, conducted research on markets, held training camps, created four teams, and scheduled the venues.[5]

Since that time, the NWHL added two more teams and sparked an increased interest in women's hockey viewership and participation. In 2019, Rylan and the NWHL Players' Association agreed on a 50-50 split of revenue from all league-level partnerships — the first such deal in women's professional sports history. The 2019–20 season saw the most corporate partnerships the league has ever had. The NWHL and Twitch announced a three-year partnership in 2019 for exclusive streaming rights of all league games. During Rylan's tenure, the NWHL brought women's hockey to communities beyond the league's markets with All-Star Games held in Pittsburgh and Nashville, with the Nashville event setting the record for largest attendance for a women's professional hockey game in the United States. She also formed the Jr. NWHL, which connected the league with more than 150 youth hockey programs.

Rylan has been named to ESPN's "IMPACT 25," which recognizes the women making the biggest impact on their sport and the society in which they live, and she has been honored by Fast Company as one the "Top 100 Most Creative People" and as a member of the magazine's Innovation Council. A passionate entrepreneur, she is a popular speaker and panelist at business and career conferences.

On October 12, 2020, Dani Rylan stepped down as commissioner and was replaced by Tyler Tumminia as interim commissioner during a league reorganization. The league was changing its governing model to an incorporated association that would be overseen by a board of governors, with one representative per team. Rylan would remain with the league to oversee the Beauts, Whale, Riveters, and Whitecaps while it searched for independent ownership of the league-operated teams.[8]

Personal life

Rylan grew up in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. Her father worked in marketing for the Tampa Bay Lightning.[6] After college, she moved to New York City and opened a coffee shop named Rise and Grind in East Harlem.[5]

References
  1. "Champion for Women's Hockey Wills Pro League Into Third Year". The New York Times. 2017-03-19. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  2. "So We Started a Hockey League | By Dani Rylan". The Players' Tribune. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  3. "These women are about to make hockey history". Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-03-30. Retrieved 2015-03-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Menza, Kaitlin (2015-10-06). "Meet Dani Rylan, the Commissioner of the NWHL". Shape Magazine. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  6. Borzi, Pat (April 10, 2015). "BIG PLANS, BIG QUESTIONS FOR NEW WOMEN'S PRO HOCKEY LEAGUE". ESPN. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  7. "Player Stats | Year by Year | Dani Rylan :: Statistics :: USCHO.com :: U.S. College Hockey Online". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  8. "AP Source: NWHL founder Rylan stepping down as commissioner". Star Tribune. Retrieved October 13, 2020.


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