Ranking The PWHL Takeover Tour Stops From First To Worst

The PWHL Takeover Tour is set to play its final game of the 2024-25 season next weekend in St. Louis.

The tour has smashed expectations for attendance, media coverage, and has proven a vast tool for promoting professional women's hockey in North America.

But not all PWHL Takeover Tour stops were created equal. Here's a look each from first to worst.

Quebec City showed a more holistic support for their PWHL Takeover Tour game. The media in the area was rabid for information. Local government showed up in droves to support the team. The business community came on board, and yes,  the 18,259 fans in attendance were spectacular. There's no arena in North America more ready for a pro team than Quebec City's Videotron Centre.

The PWHL walked into Vancouver knowing they had a sold out crowd, one that scooped up every available ticket in minutes. It was a crowd at Rogers Arena that was larger than any the NHL's Vancouver Canucks had drawn, and the media coverage of the game was from coach-to-coast. The building itself was electrified. It was obvious Vancouver was not only there for a single game, but in full support of the league and 

It was short lived, but this game set a new American pro attendance record. Ball Arena showed up for the PWHL and the community looked activated and engaged. It was enough to springboard Denver into serious conversation as a potential expansion site. 

For the second straight season, Detroit set a new American professional women's hockey attendance record. The fact they did it this year, only 4 hours after a home game from the NHL's Detroit Red Wings wrapped on the same ice at Joe Louis Arena shows there's enough women's specific fans in the area to support a potential team. If there's one legitimate concern, it's arena availability at Little Caesars. Double headers won't work forever.

Unpopular opinion. This game felt underwhelming. Edmonton did well at the box office, but was several hundred seats short of a sell out. In Canadian markets where arenas are being filled night in and night out, a packed house is the new expectation. The crowd itself seemed, quiet. Alberta has a vibrant women's hockey scene, and Edmonton and/or Calgary certainly should be high on the PWHL's list. Did they do enough?

Most believed Seattle would set a new attendance record...which they didn't. The community is vibrant and supportive of women's sports, which keeps Seattle near or at the top of potential American expansion locations. There's no doubt the league is looking West and Seattle is an ideal fit. The fans that were in attendance were passionate, the interest was evident, and the market seems ripe for a team. Can Climate Pledge Arena house an NHL, WNBA, PWHL, and future NBA team? That's the biggest concern.

If this were a list ranking what locations exceeded all expectations, Raleigh would be at the top. The fact 10,782 fans showed up in North Carolina shows the wide spread intrigue the PWHL has garnered. It also shows how Raleigh's girls and women's hockey community continue to grow. The Carolina Hurricanes have helped propel the growth of the sport in the state, and it showed. The league should look to return, because while the league is looking west, someday they'll also want to expand south.

The lone remaining stop on the PWHL's Takeover Tour isn't looking like it will break any records. It's been a relatively quiet lead up to St. Louis without the same widespread interest and excitement some markets have earned from the broader hockey community. Ottawa's trade that sent Savannah Harmon to Toronto removed one of the few PWHL players from the midwest from the game. Unless a miracle occurs, it doesn't feel like St. Louis has worked their way into the expansion mix.

Say it ain't so, Buffalo. The crowd looked and felt smaller than 8,512 in Buffalo. The market was the only from the former PHF to not get a PWHL team, but it looks like this was the right choice. Perhaps the league would have had more success putting Toronto into this game against New York to draw the cross-border fans. But with the geopolitical climate in the United States, counting on Canadian fans to cross the border at all is an ask.  Considering a large portion of fans at this game were Boston Fleet fans who made the drive, it's a stretch to believe Buffalo could support a PWHL team in any way beyond the struggles the New York Sirens currently face.