The PWHL Takeover Tour hasn't packed the same punch at the box office early this season. What gives? And should the league be re-examining their approach, and how they market the tour?
The early stages of this season's PWHL Takeover Tour have been unlike anything the league has seen to date, and not in a positive way. After smashing record after record in the league's first two seasons at Takeover games, the PWHL is witnessing a drop in attendance at the Tour this year.
Overall, average home attendance is up across the league, but the Takeover Tour has been underwhelming to say the least.
In year one the PWHL held only two Takeover games in Pittsburgh and Detroit that averaged 11,293 fans, including a new American record for professional women's hockey attendance in Detroit where they drew 13,736.
In year two, the PWHL expanded the Takeover Tour to nine stops, which drew an average of 13,733. Among those stops was a new American record in Denver, followed by Detroit reclaiming the record, as well as sold out stops in Vancouver (19,038), Quebec City (18,259), and a near sellout in Edmonton (17,518).
This season, however, the PWHL Takeover Tour has not lived up to those expectations. Of the three lowest attendance Takeover Tour games, two have come this season in Dallas (8,514) and the all-time low in Chicago (7,238). The Dallas game was only two fans shy of being the second lowest all-time, beating Buffalo's 8,512 by a pair of fans.
In Edmonton, the city's attendance dropped by 7,254 fans from last year's mark to 10,264 for their first of two stops this season.
The lone bright spot to date is Halifax's sold-out 10,438 crowd.
It's an average however, of only 9,113.
Despite this, there are good days on the PWHL Takeover Tour coming for attendance including when the league returns to Quebec City, a stop in Washington, one in Winnipeg, and the upcoming game in Hamilton, Ontario.
But the steep and consistent decline to start the tour, and the many games that are struggling to sell on the bloated 16-team tour this season should be a canary in the coal mine for the PWHL. Not that the PWHL Takeover Tour doesn't work, and isn't an incredibly valuable venture, but that the league may need to reexamine their approach to the tour.
The tour serves a valuable purpose not only for growing the league's fan base and providing visibility to young girls, a role it still plays today, but also in testing potential expansion markets. Two of last season's more successful stops in Seattle and Vancouver now have PWHL franchises that are leading the PWHL in home venue attendance at 11,459 in Vancouver and 11,065 in Seattle this season.
While the tour's purpose of growing the fan base, providing visibility, selling merchandise, and testing markets is important, and has value beyond ticket sales, at some point the league will begin thinking twice about diverting home games for teams like Seattle and Vancouver away from their markets if it involves lost revenue on ticket sales. If the league can draw larger crowds by remaining in their markets, the cost versus reward of the tour will quickly come into question. The same could be said for teams like Montreal, Toronto, and Boston who will all play games in NHL venues in their markets this season that outdraw Takeover Tour games. In Montreal last week the league saw 18,107 in attendance at the Bell Centre.
The other question is, what's the cause of the decline this season?
It isn't a lack of interest in women's hockey, which continues to see a climb in overall attendance. It could be the lack of marketing, which was a frequent online point of critique for the Chicago stop. To date the league has primarily marketed to its existing fans, and used some targeted geographic marketing on social media, but it hasn't been enough. Even in their current markets, marketing is nearly non-existent, at least compared to the extent of other top professional leagues.
It could also be that many fans in Takeover cities have pledged their allegiance to PWHL teams in the league that might not be involved in Takeover Tour games in their market. Or maybe they just don't have interest in supporting teams unless they are supporting a team that represents their region. Maybe it's the fact the league oversaturated the Takeover Tour this season with too many games, including multiple stops in five markets, diluting the excitement for games.
Looking at the potential attendances for upcoming games in Detroit, Denver, Chicago, and Edmonton, the Takeover Tour will only break last year's overall attendance mark for the tour due to quantity of games, not the quality of crowds.
The PWHL Takeover Tour remains a beacon for the league, and a positive tool for growing the sport, testing markets, and building a fan base. But like any fledgling business, the PWHL may need to adapt their tactical approach to the tour if early trends continue.