PWHL Expansion Comes at the Right Time

As the PWHL prepares to return from the international break and resume its second season, the league announced on Wednesday its first expansion team coming to Vancouver, BC.

The news of PWHL expansion is both long-anticipated and relatively early in the league's young history, as eager fans across North America have been chomping at the bit to have a team in their own market. But it also comes at the right time, with women's hockey - and women's sports - growing exponentially, and a continuous stream of graduating collegiate players and international talents looking to enter the pro market in the United States and Canada.

Expansion wasn't a question of if, but when and where - and Vancouver is a good start.

"This is the third-largest market in Canada," said PWHL Executive Vice President of Business Operations Amy Scheer in a Wednesday evening media availability attended by The Ice Garden. "It's a vibrant community here, and a corporate community who believes in women's sports. We love the hockey community here in BC. Their registrations are close to 50/50, girls and boys. They're really continuing to build the girls' game here, and we would love to help contribute to the momentum between the growth."

"The fans have told us... that this is a market for us," Scheer added, noting that 19,038 eager fans packed Rogers Arena for this year's Takeover Tour game between the Montréal Victoire and the Toronto Sceptres. That was the highest-attended game of the Takeover Tour. Fans were also vocal and engaged on social media with the league, its teams and players throughout the season.

Both Scheer and Jayna Hefford, PWHL Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, attended the Takeover Tour game in Vancouver earlier this year. They spoke to players after the game, all of whom spoke positively about the experience.

"They loved the environment," Hefford said. "Montreal was on a three-game road trip, and we had nothing but positive feedback from them and their road trip."

With that said, Hefford reassured listeners that the league carefully considered a variety of factors before making any decisions on expansion, including the extensive travel involved in putting a team on the West Coast in a largely East Coast-based league.

"Our success is certainly built on the hockey and the performance of our players and athletes," she said. "We want to ensure, and we will ensure, that their performance is not negatively impacted by the travel."

"We think that by both using Minnesota, which is the furthest west market we have prior to Vancouver, as well as Takeover Tour games, there's a way we can ensure that teams are playing multiple games on road trips," she added. "There may be occasions where they go straight to the West Coast, but there certainly is an opportunity to limit the demand of travel through those two areas."

The PWHL is a professional hockey league, and as such, they'll figure out the logistics of travel. The players are professional athletes, and while it may take some getting used to it, they'll grow accustomed to it. A professional league simply cannot sustainably exist or thrive long-term in a small geographic area, such as having all the teams located on the East Coast. Expansion is inevitable, and with Minnesota already on the map, there's no good reason not to go out to Vancouver as the next step - and plenty of good reasons to do so.

PWHL Vancouver will be the primary tenant at the Pacific Coliseum, playing its home games there while practicing at the nearby Agrodome. This marks the first time a PWHL team will act as the primary tenant at its rink.

"[This] will really allow us to maximize our options around our schedule, really allow us to maximize our business," Scheer said. "Having that first opportunity for our league going into our third season is a pretty big step for us."

According to the league's media release, both facilities - which are owned by the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) - will undergo "comprehensive upgrades" to locker rooms and training facilities. Enhanced technology and broadcast capabilities will also be added at the Coliseum.

The Pacific Coliseum currently accommodates 15,713 in permanent seating. The building opened in 1968 and has been renovated several times since then. It was formerly home to numerous hockey teams, including the NHL's Vancouver Canucks and the WHL's Vancouver Giants.

Within just a few hours of the official announcement, PWHL Vancouver had already sold out of premium season ticket deposits, a select number of seats in the center sections of the arena that include access to a private, members-only lounge. Those deposits were sold for $200/seat. Regular season ticket deposits are still being accepted at $50/seat. A deposit does not guarantee access to purchase a full season ticket membership.

"I don't want to get too carried away, but it's nice to see all the premium seats going quickly," Scheer said. "We feel that just from this initial response from the market, it's telling us we're going to be successful."

The PWHL's first season focused largely on the firsts and the newness of it all. The second season has been less about the novelty, more about the hockey, as Toronto Sceptres forward Sarah Nurse told us in January. Now that the league has almost two seasons under its belt, it's a good time to branch out and take the next step to draw attention to the league, bring in new fans and add (at least) 23 additional roster spots for players.

There are still plenty of details to be ironed out, but Wednesday's announcement was a groundbreaking one for the PWHL. The league is capitalizing on its success thus far, recognizing the need for growth, and going after it - and it's all happened relatively quickly. The RFP was issued in late November or early December; after PNE's response & the league's subsequent visit in January, more serious conversations developed, and now, here we are. The minutiae - such as the team name and logo - and other details on topics like an expansion draft and other potential new teams - will come.

For now, let's enjoy this moment. It's a special one.