Did Denver Just Become The PWHL's Leading Contender For Expansion?

Time is ticking for the PWHL to decide their newest markets for expansion, and after a record setting night, Denver, Colorado has likely moved to near the front of the line.

The PWHL has expansion plans, and this year's PWHL Takeover Tour is the primary testing ground for markets hoping to join the fledgling league. While the league is thriving in ticket sales in Canada with Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto all averaging more than 8,000 fans per game, the league will certainly be looking to grow their footprint in the USA.

Canada's Takeover Tour stops in Vancouver and Edmonton were sold out. Vancouver notched the top attended game of the season at Rogers Arena, with the PWHL Takeover game bringing in more than 19,000 fans, a number the NHL's Vancouver Canucks have yet to replicate this year. Quebec City has also sold roughly 18,000 tickets for their game.

But following the NHL's lead, expansion may not always follow where ticket sales and fan demand are. Instead, factors such as broadcasting deals and sponsors could be the predominant factors in expansion. 

Entering the league's second season, the PWHL does not have a national broadcasting partner in the USA, which the league stated is partially due to their need to widen their American footprint. With significant revenue on the line for the Mark Walter Group, albeit without a share going to players, broadcasting rights will be a driving factor.

Attendance has been strong enough in at least three American markets, while still being outperformed by Canadian cities, to draw legitimate interest from the league. Last year Detroit set a new American professional hockey attendance record drawing 13,736 fans. The city will have a chance to show that was no fluke this March when the PWHL returns to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

Seattle drew 12,608 fans for their stop this season, and this past weekend, Denver topped them all breaking Detroit's mark to grab the new USA attendance record at 14,018 fans to see a game between the Minnesota Frost and Montreal Victoire.

During the game, fans could clearly be heard chanting "we want a team."

And they may get one. 

The players on the ice could hear the cheers as well and know the desire for more women's hockey teams across North America, including in the United States.

“The product we put out on the ice is what fans love to see," said Montreal defender and California native Cayla Barnes. "We put a lot of work day in and day out. There are a lot of people behind the scenes that have done a lot of work to get to where we are. We also wouldn't be where we are without the fans. It's incredible to see that in every building that we've gone to, we're seeing signs and hearing chants that they want a team all over the country, and I think that's truly amazing. Hopefully, one day we'll get to having teams all across the country."

While more Eastern locations like Quebec City and Detroit may be the safest bets, the league will also look West, whether it's in this iteration of expansion or the next. The league must move West in order to meet broadcasting needs, including the opportunity to appeal to viewers in new time zones. Seattle and Vancouver, in tandem, will be a hard duo to top in expansion talks, but if the league wants to reach West while also adding a team to a place like Quebec City where they know they'd draw consistent crowds, Denver may have just jumped to the front of the line.

And while there are fans calling for the relocation of the New York Sirens (and the Seattle Sirens and color scheme would look great), PWHL Board member Stan Kasten repeatedly stated during year one that there is no world in which the league does not want a team in the New York area. It would be premature for any team to move out of market at this point. New York is only four games into attempting to build a following at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and although gains have been marginal, their attendance is up from last season, including their most recent game, a crowd of 3,258. It was New York's third largest home crowd ever, topped only by their first stop at the Prudential Center last season, and a March home game at UBS Arena in the inaugural campaign.

While the PWHL has a record of leaving decisions and announcements until the 11th hour, expansion announcements will need to come sooner than later. March seems like an obvious month for an announcement with the completion of the PWHL's Takeover Tour and the approach of a break in competition for the World Championships. The league will need time to field one or two new teams with logos, names, venues, and staff, not to mention planning for an expansion draft and alterations to the entry draft. An early announcement would also give the world's top players outside the PWHL time to declare for the draft.

While at least a half dozen markets look like legitimate options for PWHL expansion, Denver, Colorado's record setting night may have launched the market to the top of the list.