PWHL Expansion Built For Teams To Win On ‘Any Given Night’

PWHL league officials met with the media Tuesday before puck drop for Game 1 of the Walter Cup Finals between the Minnesota Frost and Ottawa Charge at TD Place.

In the league’s second season, ticket sales and average attendance went up 33% compared to the inaugural season, as well as an increase in sponsorship and merchandise sales, PWHL executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer told the media during a virtual press conference.

“It shows that our business is trending in the right place, in the right way,” she said. “Not to say that we don’t have a lot of work ahead of us, we certainly do. But, pretty happy with where we are.”

With the increases to several key performance indicators, the PWHL announced the league’s expansion by two franchises — Seattle and Vancouver for the 2025-26 season.

The PWHL released the key dates, rules and process for the expansion teams to build their rosters, with the guidelines clearly designed to make both clubs competitive as soon as they hit the ice next season.

“We understand a lot of people will have questions about the process, and of course, an affinity toward their teams and their favorite players,” PWHL vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford said. “But we also know that this is such an exciting time of growth for women’s hockey and for the PWHL.

“And important to remember that all teams here will be growing under the same salary cap and the same rules. And our goal is to really just maintain the exciting, competitive, balanced league that we’ve created that has been so compelling to fans around the world.”

The original six franchises will relinquish at least four players from their 2024-25 roster, and have the chance of losing more players during the exclusive five-day window to sign additional players. The two new franchises could potentially gut the heart and soul of a team or two.

“I think the feedback has been that there’s some nervousness amongst the players,” Hefford said when asked if the players are worried the new clubs will be getting an advantage. “There’s some uncertainty in their lives, and that’s challenging. We understand that and we respect that. It’s also part of professional sports, and I think our players also understand that element of what we’re doing.”

Hefford added: “I can say again, it’s been months and months of work on this. There’s various stakeholders that have an impact on this. … Existing teams, existing GMs, and every stakeholder has their view on success. We listened to everyone. We took everyone’s feedback, and then eventually, we had to make a decision.

“I can tell you, we did numerous mock drafts to determine what a league could look like after various models. And I think we all feel very confident that this is going to be a successful way for us to introduce two new teams that are going to compete on day one. I think the best thing about the PWHL is any given night, any team can win.”

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