PWHL San Jose is the league's 12th franchise, completing the rapid four team expansion, and six in just over a year, for the Professional Women's Hockey League.
The PWHL is now a 12 team league after PWHL San Jose was announced as the 12th franchise in league history. Founded as a six team league, the PWHL added franchises in Seattle and Vancouver ahead of the 2025-26 season, and expanded by four teams in Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas, and San Jose for 2026-27.
“Between a deeply rooted hockey culture, rapidly booming women’s sports scene, and a community known for growth and innovation, San Jose offers a dynamic stage for the PWHL to expand its reach and build lasting momentum,” said Amy Scheer, PWHL Executive Vice President, Business Operations. “Thanks to the San Jose Sharks and City of San Jose’s incredible support systems already in place to grow our sport across the Bay Area, and their enthusiasm for embracing the future of women’s hockey, we have the foundation to establish a lasting and impactful new home for the PWHL in San Jose. Together, we’re excited to inspire and excite fans and grow hockey together on the West Coast.”
Officials will be on hand Tuesday for a 12:45pm announcement at the SAP Center, which will house PWHL San Jose games next season sharing the venue with the NHL's San Jose Sharks.
The SAP Center, which opened in 1993, has a capacity of 17,435.
The team will enter one of the biggest markets in the United States in the Bay Area with San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland to draw from. San Jose itself is USA's 12th most populated city, and California is the most populated state in the United States.
San Jose, and the San Jose Sharks have long been supporters of women's and girls' hockey in the Bay Area, including through the San Jose Jr. Sharks. Many Jr. Sharks players will be on hand for the expansion announcement on Tuesday.
"While Northern California is a new market for pro women’s hockey, the San Jose Sharks have helped build a strong local hockey community in the Bay Area, which boasts one of the largest ice facilities in the Western United States, while California ranks sixth in the country in girls’ hockey participation behind five colder-climate regions," the PWHL wrote in their announcement.
The league also unveiled San Jose's colours, "a bright, bold palette of orange, blue, and white, inspired by the San Jose flag and reflecting the Bay Area’s optimistic energy. Orange is also a nod to the Sharks and the region’s historic orange groves, while blue evokes the beauty of California’s ocean coastline and sky."
“We are honored the PWHL has chosen San José as the site of its latest expansion team, joining the NHL’s San Jose Sharks and the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda,” said Jonathan Becher, Sharks Sports & Entertainment President. “From its humble beginnings with an NHL expansion team in 1991, San José is now truly a ‘hockey city.’ Boasting three professional hockey teams and Sharks Ice, a six-sheet public recreational ice facility, San José hosts one of the largest collection of boys, girls, and adult hockey players in the U.S. Personally, I can’t wait until opening night of PWHL San Jose later this year.”