The Professional Women’s Hockey League will play nine games outside its markets across North America this season, as it examines future expansion sites.
The barnstorming tour, dubbed the PWHL Takeover Tour, will include stops in Quebec City and Vancouver, in what could be a test run for the viability of those cities as PWHL markets.
“Bringing PWHL games to fans across both countries is a natural next step as we continue building our audience,” Amy Scheer, the league’s senior vice president of business operations, said in a statement Monday.
“When exploring potential locations for a PWHL game, the enthusiasm from cities eager to engage with our league was incredibly encouraging. The PWHL Takeover Tour lets us showcase our game and exceptional athletes across a wider North American footprint — an exciting moment for our players and an important move for our business as we consider expansion.”
The PWHL, which currently has teams in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Boston, Minnesota and the New York area, is looking at adding as many as two teams as early as the 2025-26 season.
Last month, while speaking at the espnW Women and Sports Summit in California, Scheer announced the league has started the process of expansion. The first step was to send out requests for proposals to several interested markets, and accept proposals from other cities that have interest.
“[We’re] looking for the right market size, right fan base, right facilities, right economic opportunity,” Scheer said on the panel. “So a lot of research to be done over the next couple of months, but looking to continue to build the league and grow the number of teams.”
Scheer also said the league plans to work toward hosting an outdoor game and games in Europe in the future.
“We like breaking records,” she said.
Victoire, Charge to battle in Quebec City
The league has already started selling tickets for the game between the Montréal Victoire and Ottawa Charge in Quebec City on Jan. 19.
Montreal will also be part of the game in Vancouver, facing the Toronto Sceptres in a Jan. 8 matchup at Rogers Arena, home of the NHL’s Canucks.
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The tour also includes stops in Seattle (Montreal Victoire at Boston Fleet) on Jan. 5, Denver on Jan. 12 (Victoire at Minnesota Frost), Buffalo on Feb. 23 (Boston at New York Sirens), Raleigh, N.C. on March 7 (Ottawa Charge at Minnesota), Detroit on March 16 (Minnesota at New York) and St. Louis on March 29 (Ottawa at Boston).
A ninth contest between Toronto and Ottawa on Feb. 16 will be held at a location to be named.
The league held neutral site games in Pittsburgh and Detroit last season, with the latter game setting a new record for the most-attended professional women’s hockey game in U.S. history, drawing 13,736 fans to Little Caesars Arena, home of the NHL’s Red Wings.
Other American markets on the tour have played host to women’s hockey in the past, including Buffalo, which was home to the Beauts franchise in the Premier Hockey Federation, a league that was bought and shut down to make way for the creation of the PWHL.
Seattle drew 14,551 fans for a Rivalry Series game between Canada and the United States in November 2022, setting a new American record for attendance at a national team game.
The season begins Nov. 30 with the Toronto Sceptres hosting the Boston Fleet at 2 p.m. ET at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The game will be streamed on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem, and CBC Sports App.