Vancouver is set to become the new home for the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s (PWHL) first expansion team, with a formal announcement scheduled for next week. This development was confirmed by a source familiar with the proceedings, though they chose to speak anonymously as the league has not officially disclosed its final decision.
The Vancouver-based publication, The Province, was the first to report on the city being selected for PWHL’s expansion efforts. At present, the announcement regarding a second expansion city is on hold. Seattle is under consideration, but there are other contenders should discussions with Seattle not reach fruition.
The Vancouver expansion is slated to be made official on Wednesday, with the media invited to a press conference that promises a “historic announcement for sport in Vancouver and British Columbia.” This new team is anticipated to be based at the Pacific Coliseum, the previous arena of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks.
The PWHL has chosen to withhold verification of these developments and stated, “We’re continuing to finalize decisions related to expansion and look forward to sharing more details soon.”
Currently in its second season, the six-team league, established by Dodgers owner Mark Walter and tennis legend Billie Jean King in June 2023, has been evaluating over 20 markets with the potential to incorporate up to two new franchises. The choice of Vancouver aligns with key objectives for the women’s pro league, including tapping into its considerable market size and a burgeoning girls’ hockey scene. Evidence of this enthusiasm was seen in January when a PWHL neutral site game in Vancouver attracted a sellout audience of 19,038—marking the fourth-largest attendance in league history.
Geographical considerations are also pivotal, as the league looks to extend its reach across North America. The current PWHL teams are primarily concentrated in the northeastern United States and Canada, with locations in New York, Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and St. Paul, Minnesota.
PWHL officials have expressed private concerns about the establishment of a pro women’s league on the west coast. However, an expansion team in Seattle is deemed logical due to its proximity to Vancouver and its existing professional women’s sports teams like the WNBA’s Storm and NWSL’s Reign FC. In Seattle, a neutral site PWHL game in January drew an impressive crowd of 12,608.
Other cities being considered for expansion include Denver, Detroit, and Quebec City, though a second U.S.-based expansion team seems more favorable to PWHL’s plans.
This season’s PWHL nine-city Takeover Tour, which featured neutral games, was attended by 123,601 fans, contributing significantly to the league surpassing the one million mark in total attendance last month. After a three-week hiatus due to the women’s world championships in the Czech Republic, the PWHL’s regular season resumes next week. Each team has three games remaining, and the four-team playoffs are slated to begin in the first week of May.