From cross-promotion to making room at SAP Center, the San Jose Sharks are finding plenty of ways to welcome PWHL San Jose to the Bay Area.
The San Jose Sharks don't own PWHL San Jose. But Jonathan Becher, president of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, has no problem treating the new team like part of the Bay Area hockey family.
When the Sharks started planning their specialty nights for the upcoming season, PWHL San Jose didn't have to fight for a spot.
It got one of the first.
The crossover game was the first non-traditional specialty night the Sharks locked in, after the usual season opener and fan appreciation night. It will also be the first official collaboration night between a PWHL team and its NHL counterpart in the same city.
“It was the first one we planned, that’s how important this event is to us,” Becher told The Hockey News. “Make sure your readers know the PWHL San Jose x San Jose Sharks crossover game is on October 10th at 1 PM at the Shark Tank.”
There was never much question about whether the Sharks would get involved when the PWHL arrived in San Jose.
“There was never any debate on whether we were going to do this or not, it’s just part of who we are,” Becher said. “We are very much a supporter of women’s sports across the Bay Area.”
The Sharks have made a point of supporting women's sports in the Bay Area, with nights dedicated to Bay FC and the Golden State Valkyries. But PWHL San Jose is a particularly natural fit for an organization that has spent more than three decades building hockey in San Jose.
In fact, Becher finds it a little funny that the Sharks get credit for supporting the PWHL at all.
“Our mental motto was of course we were going to do this. It was never a second thought for us as well.”
The support also goes beyond putting PWHL San Jose on the schedule.
With PWHL San Jose sharing SAP Center with the Sharks and San Jose Barracuda, the organizations have had to work through the less visible part of adding another professional hockey team to the building.
PWHL San Jose will have its own locker room and practice setup, with the Sharks helping make the space work inside an arena that already houses two hockey operations.
Fans might not notice much of that once the season begins. But making room for another professional team in a building already designed around two hockey clubs takes plenty of work behind the scenes.
The crossover game will offer a much more visible connection between the two organizations.
Becher isn't ready to reveal everything planned for October 10, although he did offer a few hints.
“There will be some players there to help us celebrate, even though the season won’t have actually started,” he said.
He wouldn't say which players will attend, although Laila Edwards is already confirmed as the ceremonial puck dropper before the game.
There will also be an all-arena giveaway, with Becher promising an item that will be highly sought after.
The night is part of a broader effort to introduce the two fan bases to each other. But Becher doesn't want PWHL San Jose to simply become another product marketed to the Sharks' existing audience.
The new team needs to build something of its own.
“Certainly, we hope Sharks and Barracuda fans become fans of this new team,” Becher said. “But I think it’s also important that people who are not yet hockey fans are going to become fans.”
That, he said, is one of the opportunities the PWHL brings to San Jose.
“I think some people, if you don’t see yourself in the game, it’s harder to get emotionally connected to it,” Becher said. “Now, we will hopefully have a whole new group of people who see themselves in the game, maybe who love PWHL San Jose who we turn into Sharks or Barracuda fans.”
The relationship, then, isn't supposed to be one-way.
The Sharks can introduce PWHL San Jose to an established hockey audience. PWHL San Jose can bring a different audience into SAP Center.
“I don’t think it's just go market yourself to Sharks and Barracuda fans, I think it's you have your identity and we will cross-market.”
PWHL San Jose doesn't need to become an extension of the Sharks. It has its own name, players, colors and culture. The Sharks' role is to help where they can without taking away the opportunity for the new franchise to establish itself.
There are already some personal connections between the organizations.
Brooke Bryant, a California native, became the first player from the state to play in the PWHL when she joined San Jose. Before that, she spent time as a Junior Shark.
And Becher likes what the PWHL adds to a Bay Area sports scene that has continued to grow.
“I know they’re not ‘our team’, because technically we don’t own them, but I don’t care,” he said. “They’re part of the family already.”
There is one thing about PWHL San Jose that Becher would have changed, though.
The colors.
The Sharks have teal. PWHL San Jose does not.
“As far as I’m concerned the only mistake they’ve made is they didn’t use teal in their colors.”
It's a joke, but the enthusiasm behind it isn't.
The Sharks don't own PWHL San Jose, and they don't need to in order to be invested in what happens next.
PWHL San Jose still has to build its own identity and find its own fans. The Sharks can help open the door, but ultimately, the new team will have to decide what it wants to become.
For now, Becher seems happy to give it the room to figure that out and make sure there is a place for it in San Jose.
Tickets for the PWHL San Jose x San Jose Sharks crossover game (October 10th at 1 PM at the SAP Center) can be purchased here:
