Collective bargaining disputes in professional sports usually evoke images of lockouts, delayed seasons, and looming deadlines. Nonetheless, the East Coast Hockey League (“ECHL”), the minor hockey league sitting two levels below the NHL, is currently playing the 2025-26 season under a collective bargaining agreement that has already expired. The prior CBA expired after the 2024-25 season, but the league has simply continued operations under that CBA’s terms instead of negotiating a new one.[1]
In an open letter, the Pro Hockey Players Association (“PHPA”), the players’ representative for minor hockey leagues including the ECHL, confirmed that the parties are at a stalemate.[2] The PHPA’s public statement emphasized that negotiations remain “far apart” on foundational issues such as fair wages, sustainable scheduling, and adequate rest.[3]Specifically, the letter noted that rookie players earn about $530 per week and veterans earn about $575 per week.[4] For comparison, the players have noted that “[o]n average, a player in the ECHL makes just over half of what the referee will be paid in that same game you watch.”[5] The PHPA also criticized notoriously demanding “three-in-three” weekend travel blocks, where players play three games in three days.[6] The players argue that “three-in-threes” compromise both safety and performance.[7] The letter maintained that these concerns reflect “fairness, respect, and the sustainability of professional hockey at this level.”[8]
Of course, it is highly unique for a professional sports league to continue operations under an expired CBA. The rarity is even more apparent when viewed alongside the WNBA’s very public and simultaneous CBA renegotiation. The WNBA and its players union faced an expiring CBA earlier this fall, but executed a 30-day extension to ensure that no competition would take place without an active CBA.[9]
The comparison between the two leagues highlights a meaningful gap in sports labor safeguards. In both cases, athletes are asserting that their work conditions require modernization. But the WNBA players have received zealous advocacy with likely results, while the ECHL players are stuck in the same situation that they have been complaining about. This difference in the prominence of the two leagues is undeniable: the WNBA can be seen regularly by a national audience, while the ECHL is followed primarily through local and regional coverage. It seems apparent that this difference may be causing the ECHL players to work a bit harder to achieve the equity that they seek.
The PHPA’s decision to go public suggests a growing resistance to this gap in labor law. As revenues rise across the sports industry and players at every level become increasingly aware of their economic value, the expectation that smaller-league athletes will accept outdated arrangements simply to remain employed is weakening. The ECHL and the WNBA disputes, unfolding at the same time but handled so differently, reveal a broader trend: athletes in non-major leagues are no longer willing to treat substandard working conditions as an inevitable cost to chasing a professional sports career.
[1] Jeff Johnson, Corridor Cross Checks: PHPA releases letter giving its side of ongoing negotiations with ECHL, The Gazette (Nov. 18, 2025).
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Scott Maxwell, ECHL players release letter to fans regarding CBA negotiations, Daily Faceoff (Nov. 13, 2025).
[6] Jeff Johnson, Corridor Cross Checks: PHPA releases letter giving its side of ongoing negotiations with ECHL, The Gazette (Nov. 18, 2025).
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Reports: WNBA, union agree to extend CBA to Nov. 30, Reuters (Oct. 30, 2025).
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