Women鈥檚 professional hockey is coming to Hockeytown, with the PWHL on Wednesday designating Detroit as the first of what could become four expansion markets for next season.
Detroit鈥檚 selection is the result of the tight relationship the PWHL has with the city鈥檚 Ilitch family, whose holdings include the Red Wings. And it reflects the success the league has enjoyed in playing four neutral-site games at the NHL team鈥檚 home.
鈥淚 think from the get-go, we have really felt the passion that this city and state have for hockey and the PWHL,鈥� executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer told The Associated Press. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 the perfect place for us to grow.鈥�
Detroit hosted the PWHL鈥檚 first neutral-site game during its inaugural season in 2024, which Scheer credited for inspiring the league launching its multicity the past two years. The four games at Little Caesars Arena, which will serve as the team鈥檚 home, attracted a combined attendance of 53,626, including 15,938 in March in the .
A half-hour news conference took place inside Little Caesars Arena, and featured a video with a car revving over video of downtown Detroit and scenes from past Takeover Tour games.
鈥淭he PWHL didn鈥檛 have to guess whether Detroit was ready. Detroit made it obvious,鈥� said Chris Ilitch, CEO of Ilitch Companies, which also owns baseball鈥檚 Detroit Tigers. 鈥淭he wait is over. Detroit has a team. Let鈥檚 go.鈥�
Ilitch addressed a crowd that included his mother, Marian, one of only a handful of women to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup.
The PWHL also announced Detroit will host the league鈥檚 draft and awards ceremony in mid-June. The draft on June 17 will feature a highly anticipated class of prospects brimming with U.S. talent, including gold medal-winning Olympians in and Laila Edwards, .
Plans to add up to four teams
Detroit鈥檚 addition grows the PWHL to nine teams, and comes a year after . And there鈥檚 more to come, with the PWHL previously saying it plans to expand by between two and four markets.
Scheer would not reveal how more teams will be added, though the expectation remains four to be announced in the coming weeks.
Denver is considered a front-runner, with the PWHL targeting the city since a Takeover Tour game in January 2025 attracted 14,018 fans, who chanted 鈥淲e want a team!鈥� Another contender is Las Vegas, with the NHL鈥檚 Golden Knights having spent the past two years lobbying for a franchise.
And then there鈥檚 Hamilton, Ontario, whose potential addition would give the PWHL three teams in Ontario, rounded out by Toronto and Ottawa. Hamilton is an hour west of Toronto, and the PWHL is confident the region鈥檚 population of 570,000 is large enough to not draw fans away from the Sceptres.
The league has also expressed interest in Washington, D.C., Dallas, Chicago, the Alberta cities of Calgary and Edmonton, Quebec City and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Washington and Calgary have issues regarding arena availability and space, making it difficult to fit in an extra team.
Motor City meets PWHL criteria
Detroit meets several key PWHL expansion criteria, with the arena having a training facility attached to it, while the city鈥檚 location helps fill the travel gap between Toronto and Minnesota.
The Motor City is home to a large corporate base, including current league partners Ally Financial and the Meijer grocery store chain.
Detroit also has a rich history of girls developmental hockey programs. Among U.S. states, Michigan ranks second behind Minnesota in producing PWHL talent.
The PWHL can boast beating the state鈥檚 colleges in adding women鈥檚 hockey. The state does not have a Division I women鈥檚 hockey team, though the .
鈥淚 hope it follows, right? I hope we can be a catalyst to continue to grow the game here,鈥� PWHL executive vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited about the impact we鈥檙e going to be able to have here in Detroit on hockey in general, but certainly on women鈥檚 hockey.鈥�
The yet-to-be named team鈥檚 primary colors will be black and silver, with a red accent in a nod to the Red Wings. The jerseys will also feature an Ally Financial patch.
Post-Olympic surge
The latest round of expansion comes during the Walter Cup playoffs and the league enjoying a .
The PWHL鈥檚 120-game regular-season schedule attracted more than 1.1 million fans, representing a 28% jump over last year and marked the first time the league topped 1 million in one season. Online merchandise sales surged by more than 50% over last season, including a 190% jump following the Olympics as compared to the same period a year ago.
The league鈥檚 YouTube channel鈥檚 viewership increased by 77% this year, and now reaches 154 countries.
Adding three U.S. markets to its four existing American cities 鈥� rounded out by Newark, New Jersey, and Boston 鈥� would better position the PWHL to land a U.S. national broadcast partnership.
This season, Scripps Sports agreed to broadcast various games, , on ION, which is accessible to 126 million American households. League and Scripps officials have expressed interest in establishing a more permanent partnership for next season.
The PWHL is centrally controlled and privately backed by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and wife Kimbra, who have invested hundreds of millions of dollars.
Scheer said this round of expansion before Season 4 meets the Walters鈥� vision in building a sustainable league.
鈥淲hile it might be fast in terms of the way other leagues have done things, for us it鈥檚 measured and calculated,鈥� Scheer said. 鈥淪o we feel good at the pace that we鈥檙e moving, and feel confident in the way we鈥檙e growing. We鈥檒l be here for a while.鈥�
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