There seems to be a lot of interest from investors to land a team.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League, which is heading into its second season, is looking to add two teams that would possibly begin play in just a year from now. The PWHL has six teams and in a nod to the National Hockey League and its marketing of the Original Six teams in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montréal, New York and Toronto although those six teams were not original NHL teams and were part of a league that shrunk to six teams by 1942. The PWHL is calling its six teams in Boston, Montréal, New York, although the team plays in Newark, New Jersey, Ottawa, St. Paul, Minnesota and Toronto the Inaugural Six. The Mark Walter Group, which owns the league, has begun the process of identifying markets that make financial sense for the business.
”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,” The league’s senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer said. “But yeah, looking to continue to build the league and grow the number of teams.” The league could be looking at markets such as Detroit and Pittsburgh which hosted neutral site games in 2024. Other markets that might be of interest include Philadelphia, Washington, Denver and Seattle in the United States. Québec City backers have announced that they want to be an expansion franchise candidate. Québec City will be hosting a game during the season. The PWHL is a modest start up league as investors have proceeded with caution. Women’s professional hockey leagues have not succeeded in the past. The league has just 90 regular games scheduled plus playoffs. The average player makes $55,000 annually some players get as much as $80,000 a year or as little as $38,000 annually. The PWHL is a work in progress.
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Minnesota won the 2003-24 PWHL championship.