Professional women’s hockey continues to grow and venture into new markets across North America.

This week, not only did the Rivalry Series between Canada and the United States' national women's hockey teams make stops in Cleveland and Buffalo, but the PWHL also announced its 16-date PWHL Takeover Tour for the 2025-26 season.

With the league expanding to include the Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes this season, it’s clear the PWHL is looking West, and expansion will again be on the docket in the coming months.

"We added Vancouver and Seattle this year, two teams. We're going to expand at least two to four teams next year. We are in growth mode, and this league is exploding," PWHL executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer said in a public appearance this month.

The NHL went through eras of rapid expansion, but in modern sport, the pace at which the PWHL is moving is nearly unprecedented.

The NHL moved from six to 12 teams for the 1967-68 season, ending its Original Six Era. By 1974, the NHL had grown by another six teams. Following the dissolution of the WHA, the NHL grew to 21 teams, but it wasn’t without turmoil.

The NHL’s growth included relocation of teams to and from Oakland, Cleveland, Kansas City, Atlanta, Denver, Winnipeg, Minneapolis, Quebec City, Hartford and Phoenix. Some of those markets, such as Winnipeg, Minnesota and Colorado, eventually got their teams back.

While the PWHL is rapidly expanding, it's also attempting to avoid that constant reshuffling.

Test-driving markets is an underlying benefit of the league’s Takeover Tour. Last season, Seattle and Vancouver were part of the Takeover Tour, and the league saw immediately that both had fan and corporate interest and the facilities.

This year, the league expanded its model that helps grow the PWHL’s fan base, while also giving the league key data points to continue its expansion.

Ahead of the third season, it appears the league has already identified potential candidates for its next wave of expansion prior to next season.

The league will not only visit Dallas, Hamilton, Calgary, Quebec City, Winnipeg, and Washington, but it will also make multiple stops this season in Detroit, Chicago, Denver, Edmonton and Halifax.

Giving markets a second game will provide the PWHL with additional insight compared to its one-off games.

For Denver and Edmonton, it’s the second straight season the league will visit their markets after they drew 14,018 and 17,518 fans, respectively, last season.

This will be Detroit’s third straight season hosting a PWHL game. In each of Detroit’s first two games, the city broke the American attendance record for professional women’s hockey, last season setting the new mark at 14,288.

“Season 2’s PWHL Takeover Tour was the first of its kind, giving fans across North America the chance to experience the excitement of a regular-season game in their home venues,” said Scheer. “The passion and support from fans, and the enthusiasm from cities eager to engage with our league, have fueled our ambition to grow the Tour for Season 3.”

Are The Dual Date Markets On The PWHL Takeover Tour The League's Expansion Front Runners? Detroit, Denver, Edmonton, Chicago, and Halifax will all welcome the PWHL not once, but twice this season on the PWHL Takeover Tour. Is it an indication the league could be favoring these markets in expansion?

Avoiding Arena Issues A Focus

As much as the PWHL is concerned about fans and sponsors when examining markets, the league’s top priority is creating a professional environment logistically, including a home arena and practice facility.

While the PWHL has witnessed massive growth at the box office, including surpassing its millionth fan last season, the league has encountered roadblocks, primarily related to venue issues.

While the PWHL has yet to relocate a team as it enters its third season, it has shifted venues in several markets.

In Montreal and Toronto, shifts were made as the teams immediately outgrew capacity at their inaugural venues. The league also bounced the New York Sirens between Bridgeport, Conn., and Long Island, N.Y., before finding what it hopes will be a permanent home at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Similarly, fans have complained about the more than hour-long commute from Boston to Lowell, Mass., where the Boston Fleet play the bulk of their home games.

The newest concern for the PWHL is an arena deal gone sour in Ottawa. The City of Ottawa and Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group moved forward with a new arena plan for Lansdowne 2.0, where the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s play, which will see the seating capacity shrink by nearly 3,000 fans to 5,500 in the future. The Ottawa Charge have averaged more than 7,000 fans across their first two seasons.

The PWHL was clear with Ottawa that proceeding with this plan could result in the league leaving the city in the future, as they projected the reduction would result in approximately $1 million in losses per season for the team.

"For years, facilities were designed around men’s schedules and men’s teams," Scheer and PWHL executive VP of hockey operations and Hall of Famer Jayna Hefford wrote in an open letter published in the Ottawa Citizen. 

"Women were told to make do. And now, just as women’s hockey has earned the right to think bigger, the city is planning to think smaller. For years, cities built arenas that were too big for women and just right for men. Now, the City of Ottawa is planning to build one that is too small for women, yet still perfect for men."

Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe told CBC on Oct. 22 the capacity was the right size for a new arena based on what the city heard from the community and marketplace.

"I don't know what the future holds for the Charge, they may grow so substantially and be so successful that they will be playing at the Canadian Tire Centre or the new NHL arena on LeBreton Flats down the road," he said on Ottawa Morning.

Looking At Four Future Options For The Ottawa Charge With arena plans approved that fall short on supporting the future needs of the PWHL's Ottawa Charge, the team and league must now look at all options, both inside and outside of Ottawa and Ontario, for the future of the team.

Where Will The PWHL Go Next?

The PWHL Takeover Tour not only allows the league to find markets ready to accommodate a franchise, but the tour and other women’s hockey events, such as the Rivalry Series, also allow the PWHL to identify markets that are unable to support a team.

Last year, Buffalo had the lowest single-game attendance for a Takeover Tour game at 8,512, just behind St. Louis.

The recent Rivalry Series game in Buffalo saw even lower attendance, proving the lesson learned by the PWHL was not a singular moment.

While locations like Buffalo may not be in the mix for a team, the league still sees the value in taking the PWHL on the road to expose fans, particularly young girls who may never have seen women play professional hockey at this level, to get that opportunity. It’s a point Buffalo native Hayley Scamurra made following USA’s 6-1 win this week at the Rivalry Series over Canada.

“To do it here in the hometown representing USA so all the little girls in Buffalo can aspire to be that, I’m pretty grateful for that,” said Scamurra.

With Denver, Detroit, Chicago, Halifax and Edmonton circled as the PWHL’s new front-runners, and locations like Quebec City, Hamilton and Dallas sure to get serious consideration, the PWHL will continue its rapid expansion next season. The league will hope and plan for long-term stability, plans bolstered by what they learn on the Takeover Tour and, more importantly, will continue to inspire future generations wherever they go next.

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