Expansion is on the table for the six-team Professional Women’s Hockey League, and executives aren’t placing limitations on which North American markets they’ll consider in a bid to add as many as two franchises for the 2025-26 season.
The only certainty is a vision of the timing being right to build on the support the PWHL generated in its inaugural year, and the growth the league projects entering its second season, which opens on Nov. 30.
“I don’t think we rule out any market,” senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “This is a good opportunity for us to learn and continue to explore. So everything’s on the table right now.”
To reinforce how open-ended the PWHL’s expansion search will be, senior VP for business operations Amy Scheer told the AP the league has targeted more than 20 markets to be issued requests for proposals for expansion by next week. And that doesn’t include additional markets that might approach the league for consideration.
“I think we want to be an open book, and I think we want to be open to things that we haven’t thought about or things that we haven’t considered,” Scheer said. “Until we have the data and the facts and the conversations, we might be surprised. So let’s go for it.”
The initial timeline calls for requests for proposals to be returned by the end of December to determine interest before assessing each market. Though the goal is adding two teams by next year, Hefford and Scheer would not commit to that being a certainty.
Scheer said geography won’t be a limitation for a league that currently has teams based in Boston; Newark, New Jersey; St. Paul, Minnesota; Toronto; Montreal; and Ottawa, Ontario. Neither will a market’s affiliation with an NHL team, though both aspects will be considered.
The only factors to help guide the search, Scheer said, will be market size, access to facilities, economic partnership opportunities and fan base potential.
Hefford wouldn’t rule out considering Southern California or Seattle as possibilities, saying: “This is a good opportunity for us to learn and continue to explore.”
Two potential candidates are Detroit and Pittsburgh, where the PWHL played neutral-site games last season. Nine more neutral-site games are scheduled for this season, though the league has yet to say where they’ll be held.
In the U.S., Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia would be regarded as candidates after both were previously considered, with Chicago and Denver also options.
In Canada, Quebec City already has announced its intention of being a candidate. Calgary would be a potential option, with the city previously being home to the Inferno from 2011 to 2019, before the Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded.
The timing for expansion comes with the league having a full offseason to catch its collective breath after having six month last year to essentially start from scratch to open play on Jan. 1. The PWHL got its start in late June 2023, when Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter agreed to finance the league while buying out its North American competitor, the Premier Hockey Federation.
The PWHL averaged nearly 5,500 fans over 72 regular-season games and set a women’s pro hockey record for attendance, with 21,105 turning out for a game between Toronto and Montreal held at the NHL's Canadiens' home arena. The league reached sponsorship deals with companies including Scotiabank, Air Canada, Discover and Hyundai, while having each game broadcast in local markets along with a streaming rights deal with YouTube, which drew 113,000 subscribers.
Just as important is how expansion would address an immediate need in opening roster spots to be filled by a growing number of European players seeking to compete in North America, and the next crop of U.S. college graduates. In June, 167 players representing 19 countries declared being eligible for a seven-round draft in which just 42 were selected.
“The talent pool is only going to continue to grow,” Hefford said.
The PWHL is centrally controlled, with each team operated by the league. There’s long-term stability with Walter committing hundreds of millions of dollars to build the league and with players working under an eight-year collective bargaining agreement running through July 2031.
This season features an expanded schedule with each team playing 30 games, up from 24 last year. Beyond this season, Scheer said the league is considering holding an outdoor game as well as playing games in Europe.
Expansion was always under consideration, though Scheer stressed the league is taking a patient approach.
“We will make the right decisions based on growth for hockey, financial decisions, what is the best way to move forward,” she said. “Nobody here is making rash decisions.”
Hefford wouldn’t rule out future rounds of expansion, without saying how many teams would be ideal for a league still in its early stages.
“We know we want to grow,” Hefford said. “But I have a really hard time throwing out a number right now.”
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AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
John Wawrow, The Associated Press