The PWHL had a breakthrough season as acknowledged by players, staff, and at the 17th annual Sports Business Awards. From fans, to media coverage, it was a banner beginning.
The PWHL had a breakthrough season as acknowledged by players, staff, and at the 17th annual Sports Business Awards. From fans, to media coverage, it was a banner beginning.
With the PWHL honored as Breakthrough of the Year at the 17th annual Sports Business Awards on Wednesday night in New York, the achievements of the league’s launch were celebrated.
“In just five months since the first game was played, the PWHL has set six attendance records for women’s hockey, added more than 40 corporate partners and seen more than 1 million social media followers,” the Sport Business Journal wrote.
In a post-season media event, the topic of growing the league was prominent among players from PWHL Toronto. The second year of the league is going to be crucial, maintaining the momentum of those “first-ever” occurrences and turning that into ongoing rivalries, player popularity, team loyalty, and awareness.
Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull said, “I think the media support is huge, the fact that our games were available, and even internationally anyone could watch it on YouTube throughout the entire season, and [it was] picked up by a lot of major TV networks, too. Having that stuff is huge; people need to be able to access our games and media needs to continue to show up and support us by interviewing us and putting us in the media outlets.”
She stressed that media exposure and connecting the players to potential fans is vital.
“I think anything that gets attention from people who might not be a fan of the sport is amazing and it’s been super helpful this year to have so many media outlets wanting to be involved and wanting to cover it. I think that’s something that really helped it grow and something that we’ll continue to need if we want this league to continue to grow.”
Renata Fast agreed with the idea that the initial season and its historic “firsts” gave them an advantage.
“That’s gonna be so key – the inaugural season, there’s a huge appeal to supporting that, and I think we felt kind of that first-year bump, but the job isn’t done.”
“We need to make sure that each year we’re growing it, and I think a lot of that has to do with the product we’re putting out on the ice, but also the product that any fan experiences – that we’re giving everyone at games and in the communities. I think the league has done a great job but I think the work isn’t done to make sure that we’re continuing to elevate.”
At the awards ceremony, Billie Jean King said “This award is a significant achievement for hockey, and women’s sports. Women’s sports are now seen as an investment and not a charity.”
Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa might have had a better reception this season simply because of the Canadian appetite for hockey in general, but the growth of the women’s game in the USA is vital to the league’s success. PWHL Toronto’s Sarah Nurse is as aware as any player in the league of the importance of marketing, and how to create opportunities for exposure.
She said, “I think women’s sports, being able to continue the momentum is huge, and I think from a visibility and accessibility standpoint we need to be visible and accessible, we need to be marketed. I think the business operations team throughout the league has done a great job this year, but we need to definitely continue that.”
“I think growing the game globally has been something that’s been talked about a lot, and it’s not just growing women’s hockey but it’s growing hockey globally and attracting more fans to the sport. Obviously you see it in the NHL, and the PWHL we have different fan bases but they do overlap, and I think being able to capitalize on that is going to be huge as well.”
“But getting butts in seats ultimately comes down to marketing and performance on the ice. I think in Toronto we had a pretty incredible season and to be able to put butts in seats seemed to be pretty easy here, but it’s not something that we take for granted at all. Our fans have been loyal, they’ve been very passionate so we’re looking to have that back in the stands next season.”