On Monday afternoon, Bloomberg broke the news that a pair of insurance companies owned by Mark Walter, the primary investor behind the PWHL, are currently being investigated for their use of the general public’s money. This marks a third story with the potential to impact the financials of the league moving forward that has broken in the last month or so.

Here’s everything you need to know.

The Potential Embezzlement

Much of the basic summary of the case comes from USA Today.

The investigation into Delaware Life Insurance Co. and Clear Spring Life and Annuity Co. was reported to have begun in February.

The companies hold a combined $85M USD mostly made of taxpayer money. This amount was invested back into the market to make sure the companies could eventually pay back the people buying into insurance policies. To be clear, this is par for the course for private insurance.

What’s not par for the course is the manner in which this money is being invested. Prior to the investigation, Delaware Life Insurance Co. was reporting that it was investing just 3% of its money back into companies owned by Mark Walter. This figure amounts to 1.4 billion USD when interest is accounted for.

This is already a behemoth number to the average person. Nevertheless, it pales in comparison to the actual figure found by investigators. It turns out that the Delaware Life Insurance Co. was investing 39% of all of its holdings back into Mark Walter, totaling more than 17 billion USD.

The crux of the issue is best summed up by Kristie Ackert of USA Today. She writes: “Basically, the company’s money was about 12 times more tangled up with its owner’s other business than anyone had been told.”

Similar figures that could implicate Clear Spring Life and Annuity Co. have not been made public, but they are also facing investigation.

The criminal nature of these findings hinges on whether or not the drastic inflation between these figures was being deliberately hidden to bolster Walter’s fortune. This is still under investigation, and thus no charges have been filed against anyone involved.

What Does This Mean for the PWHL?

No statement has been made by the PWHL, nor any other Walter-owned entity, regarding the investigation into his insurance companies. This is because nothing out-of-the-ordinary is happening for any of the individual sports franchises that Walter has stake in yet. These other teams include the Los Angeles-based Dodgers, (MLB) Lakers (NBA) and Sparks (WNBA).

Lakers Daily went so far as to clarify for basketball fans that “The Bloomberg report does not allege any wrongdoing by the Lakers, the Dodgers, the Sparks or any of Walter’s sports properties, and none of those franchises [are] described as a subject of the investigation.”

They also point out, however, that any damage to Walter’s fortune as a result of this case would have the potential to change how he spends on sports. As a women’s sports franchise, the PWHL might be first on his chopping block should this occur.

The entire history of women’s hockey before the advent of the PWHL consisted of underfunded leagues shrouded in controversy and somewhat dubious financials. It’s understandable if a PWHL fan were especially worried about this scenario.

Still, nowhere is a conviction or even pressing charges being noted as likely.

On the off chance legal action against Walter did come to fruition, his individual teams would simply change hands. It’s different for the PWHL, because he owns the entire league, which is a new enterprise compared to even the three-decades-old Los Angeles Sparks.

However, don’t forget that the PWHL has more than just Mark Walter backing it up now. In the worst-case scenario, these other companies could pick up the slack. That brings us smoothly to headline number two.

New Investors in Women’s Hockey

Around a month ago, on June 22, the PWHL announced its first investors from outside the Walter Group. They are Kilmer Sports Ventures and Illitch Companies.

Kilmer Sports Ventures is the first Canadian investor into the PWHL. The company is involved in operations of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, NBA’s Toronto Raptors, MLS’ Toronto FC, and CFL’s Toronto Argonauts. They also have stake in the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo.

Illitch Companies, based in Detroit, is the owner of both the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and the MLB’s Detroit Tigers via its ownership of Ilitch Sports + Entertainment.

According to the PWHL, “Mark and Kimbra Walter, together with the PWHL Advisory Board, will continue to oversee league operations and strategic direction while benefiting from the expertise, relationships, and perspectives of two of the most respected ownership groups in professional sports.”

The league identifies its continued growth as the reason behind the partnership. The investigation into its owner and the potential for this to be a reason to involve multiple new investors does not change the growth of women’s hockey as a whole.

Divestment from GEO Group

A different headline about Mark Walter that should concern PWHL fans has been under-covered, but, to be frank, the league never wanted people to know about it.

For a long time, Walter’s investment firm, Guggenheim Partners, owned massive shares of GEO Group. GEO Group is a private prison company with nearly-unfathomable ties to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE. According to reporting by NPR, over half of GEO Group’s funding in the last year came from contracts with ICE. It operates nearly two-dozen ICE facilities. At one point, Guggenheim Partners held more than a million shares in this company, valued at $$12M USD.

The Los Angeles Times has been following the issue closely because of Walter’s ownership of the Dodgers. In June, they reported that “By the end of 2025, Guggenheim’s interest in GEO Group had fallen to around 10,000 shares. And by the end of March of this year, Guggenheim no longer owned any shares of the prison company…”

While not directly impacting the PWHL itself, enthusiasts of any of Walter’s sports ventures can enjoy the pastime a little easier knowing that none of their support could circle back into GEO Group.

At the End of the Day…

To sum all of this up, the investigation into Mark Walter is, as of now, just that—an investigation. Furthermore, the finances of Walter’s sports franchises are not part of the investigation. None of them are projected to be directly impacted by it, either.

To the contrary, PWHL fans should be looking at the financials of the league with relative optimism. According to the league’s press release about the involvement of its new investors, “The PWHL has grown its sponsorship portfolio by 35% year-over-year, increased e-commerce merchandise sales by more than 50%, and generated more than $682M social media impressions, underscoring its rapid rise as one of the fastest-growing properties in sports.”

This growth, coupled with the removal of any potential financial involvement with ICE, suggests that the PWHL will be just fine. Regardless of the issues facing Mark Walter—if they turn out to be issues at all.