The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) continues its growth into new markets, announcing nine neutral site games for the 2024-25 season, with expansion teams on the horizon for 2025-26.
‘Takeover Tour’
The ‘Takeover Tour,’ which is the PWHL’s name for their neutral site schedule, brings the women’s game across North America with nine must-see matchups in prospective future PWHL cities.
Games will be held in Buffalo, Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, Raleigh, Seattle, St. Louis, Quebec City and Vancouver, with Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena being the only venue to host a PWHL game for a second consecutive year, after setting an American record with 13,736 fans in attendance for a professional women’s hockey game last season.
The tour begins on Jan. 5 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, one of eight NHL venues that will host the ‘Takeover Tour,’ which will see the Boston Fleet battle the Montreal Victoire.
Vancouver is the opening stop on the Canadian leg of the tour on Jan. 8, hosting the Victoire and Toronto Sceptres at Rogers Arena, home of the NHL’s Canucks.
The Victoire will also be featured in Quebec City, facing the Ottawa Charge at the Videotron Centre on Jan. 19 — the only venue that doesn’t house an NHL team — before the Charge and Sceptres battle at Edmonton’s Rogers Place on Feb. 16.
The tour concludes on March 29 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, which will host the Fleet and Charge.
Ottawa and Montreal lead the way with four neutral site games; Boston and Minnesota will appear in three; and New York and Toronto will play in two.
For the complete ‘Takeover Tour’ schedule, visit thepwhl.com.
Expansion Teams
Many within the hockey community believe the ‘Takeover Tour’ will serve as an important “audition” for prospective PWHL markets, as the PWHL announced that they could add up to two teams for the 2025-26 season.
PWHL Senior VP of Business Operations Amy Scheer said that requests for proposals will likely need to be received by the PWHL head office by the end of December, as there are over 20 markets being considered, which doesn’t include additional markets that could approach the league for consideration.
“I think we want to be an open book, and I think we want to be open to things that we haven’t thought about or things that we haven’t considered,” said Scheer. “[We’re] looking for the right market size, right fan base, right facilities, right economic opportunity — so a lot of research to be done over the next couple months.”
Amongst the Canadian markets that are likely to be considered are Quebec City, Edmonton and Vancouver, all of which are Canadian stops on the ‘Takeover Tour.’
Quebec City has publicly announced their interest in acquiring a PWHL franchise, with city councillor Jackie Smith emphasizing that the ‘Takeover Tour’ is the first step in their development toward landing an expansion team.
For Edmonton and Vancouver, being well-established NHL markets could help their pitch for PWHL expansion, especially if the league plans to expand across North America and tap into their fanbase in Western Canada.
The league has emphasized that they will be taking a patient approach to expansion, as no set timeline has been announced for when new franchises could be granted and finalized.
For more details on the 2024-25 PWHL season, visit brockpress.com.