Hockey Insider Hints at PWHL’s Major NHL-Like Announcement for Future Seasons

Women’s sports are going big. And that is not an exaggeration. The Pro Women’s Hockey League, created as the women’s sports counterpart of the NHL, the league has grown at an unprecedented pace. On April 20, 2024, 21,105 fans packed the Bell Centre in Montreal to watch Toronto take on the home team. That’s a world record for a women’s hockey game across all competitions.

And now, a renowned hockey news reporter, broadcaster, and NHL insider has hinted at another big announcement for women’s hockey. And it’s right around the corner. “Keep an eye out for PWHL news tomorrow,” wrote CBC Sports contributor Ben Steiner. The news had Seattle Sports Commissioner Alicia Crank so excited, she responded: “Please don’t be an April Fools joke.”

So what’s the big news? Steiner elaborated on X. “Hearing there will be a press conference or at minimum announcement of a presser regarding league expansion,” explained the Northern Fútbol Podcast. This news comes in the midst of the NHL also talking about expanding the league, owing to an increase in demand for ice hockey.

Meanwhile, Steiner didn’t just say where there could be an announcement. He also hinted that the prime candidate might be getting their entry into the PWHL sooner, rather than later. “Vancouver’s potential expansion has been rumored over the last week after they had the largest Takeover Tour crowd,” the reporter added in collusion.

This news is consistent with the hints regarding expansion that the PWHL Vice President of Business Operations Amy Scheer had dropped back in February. As per The Hockey News, Scheer said that PWHL fans could expect expansion news within four to six weeks, ahead of the final week of February 2025. This is the result of the plan Scheer laid down last year to grow women’s hockey.

Growing alongside the NHL

“Bringing PWHL games to fans across both countries is a natural next step as we continue building our audience,” the PWHL Vice President said while launching the innovative ‘Take Over’ initiative last November. The nine-city (Buffalo, Denver, Detroit, Raleigh, St. Louis, Seattle, Québec City, and Vancouver) initiative brought PWHL games to neutral sites.

The result? The average attendance jumped from 5,844 in the PWHL’s inaugural season to nearly, 7000 during this season. The fact that the NHL is also growing at a rapid pace has contributed to the PWHL’s momentum as well. The ‘Take Over’ tour and Scheer’s intention to grow the sport came during a time when the NHL’s newest team, Utah Hockey Club, earned a huge response from the fans in their debut season.

With Gary Bettman announcing that the league is moving toward earning an unprecedented $7 billion in revenue, expansion rumors have also followed. Atlanta and Houston are the top candidates the NHL is looking at. The PWHL has also found a larger cultural exposure thanks to one of the most popular entertainment mediums of our times: Video games.

EA Sports’ popular NHL ’25 has included the PWHL in the game. That means exposure to a passionate fan base that doesn’t just watch ice hockey but interacts with it virtually as well. However, at the end of the day, we’ll still have to wait and see if Steiner’s PWHL rumor actually turns out to be true.

This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.