PWHL San Jose will first look to build a fan base in the Bay Area, but as the state's only PWHL team, San Jose might find themselves building a fan base elsewhere in California if the league brings the PWHL Takeover Tour to the state.
PWHL San Jose is California's first and only professional women's hockey team.
Women's hockey first arrived in California in 1916 in the Bay Area. 110 years later, the sport will return to the Bay Area. Unlike men's hockey, where there are NHL teams in San Jose, Los Angeles, and Anaheim; AHL teams in San Jose, Bakersfield, Ontario, San Diego, and Coachella Valley; and an ECHL team in Tahoe, PWHL San Jose will be California's only women's professional team.
But the well established infrastructure in California for men's hockey, can also lend PWHL San Jose and the PWHL itself an easy assist. As PWHL San Jose looks to lay down roots in the Bay Area, they also have an opportunity to become California's team through the PWHL Takeover Tour.
The PWHL Takeover Tour has never made a stop in California in the past, but that could change soon. Bringing the league to Los Angeles or Anaheim this season is an easy move, and one that could have fans across the state wearing merchandise with a rival city's name across the front in short order.
They aren't the only venues in the state capable of housing a PWHL game however.
Coachella Valley's 11,000-seat Acrisure Arena, Ontario's 9,736-seat Toyota Arena, and San Diego's 12,920 Penchanga Arena are all viable venues. In fact, San Diego was a location the league was rumoured to be considering for expansion.
When you add in Fresno's 14,224-seat Save Mart Center, Long Beach's 12,500-seat Long Beach Arena, and Stockton's 9,737-seat Adventist Health Arena arena, along with viable non-hockey arenas in Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland and other locations in the state, PWHL San Jose could tour California on the PWHL Takeover Tour.
A California tour could also pave the way for future PWHL expansion in the state.
At the youth level, California's top programs include the LA Lions, San Jose Jr. Sharks, Anaheim Lady Ducks, and San Diego Angels. The PWHL has tied many of their PWHL Takeover Tour stops to vibrant youth programs, and any one of those would be a logical start for the league.
