The Professional Women’s Hockey League will continue building audiences and testing potential new markets with neutral-site games even as the league expands by more teams again next season.
As the PWHL’s 16-game Takeover Tour ends in Alberta, executive vice-president of business operations Amy Scheer was working on the next edition of the Tour for the league’s fourth season.
“We’ll definitely look to bring the Takeover Tour back next year,” Scheer said.
“I would say that we’ll do no less than what we’ve done this year. Still determining what the final number would be, but I don’t think we’ll be less than we did this year.”
There are no plans yet to take the Takeover Tour outside North America.
“I don’t think we’re quite ready to leave North America yet,” Scheer said. “It’s certainly on our mood board for an aspirational kind of thing, but maybe a little bit further out than next season.”
Thursday’s first-ever PWHL game in Calgary featured a 2-1 win for the Toronto Sceptres over the Ottawa Charge in front of an announced crowd of 16,150 at the Saddledome.
Edmonton, host of a second Takeover game this season, closes the Tour out Tuesday when the Boston Fleet face the Vancouver Goldeneyes.
The Minnesota Frost doubled the Goldeneyes 2-1 at Rogers Place on Dec. 27.
Half of this season’s Takeover Tour games will have been played in Canada, including a pair of games in both Edmonton and Halifax. Quebec City, Hamilton and Winnipeg also each hosted a game.
“The main purpose is building an audience,” Scheer said.
Testing expansion waters
“It’s the ability for our fans outside of our markets to be able to experience it live, but also to bring new fans into our ecosystem, which are all the things that surround the live property, like social, digital, TV, watching clips on YouTube, buying merch. The stops are just one way to grow our fan base and bring people into the PWHL ecosphere.”
They also test the expansion waters. Scheer has said the PWHL will expand again by two to four teams for the 2026-27 season.
This season, Vancouver and Seattle joined the original six of Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, Minnesota and New York.
The Takeover Tour provides some data for expansion decisions, Scheer said.
“It’s one metric of all the things that we look at,” she explained. “It kind of tells us a little bit of what the appetite is in the market. How is the [NHL] team and or venue to work with? How has the city embraced us?
“There’s so many other things that weigh into our consideration set. But for sure, it’s certainly been one of the reasons we’ve done the Takeover Tour absolutely.”
The Sceptres won their first neutral-site games this season in Calgary after losses to Seattle in Hamilton and Montreal in Halifax.
“It’s so cool to see the impact that we can have on communities that aren’t a market for any team,” Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull said.
“It just goes to show that our sport is really supported and if the PWHL decides to expand, I think there’s a ton of great options based on the results of these Takeover Tour Games.”
Arena and practice facilities are also a big piece of the expansion puzzle.
The Charge have hit a hurdle with Ottawa’s TD Place. There are plans to reduce the arena’s capacity in a renovation from about 8,500 to about 5,700, which the PWHL says isn’t economically feasible for the Charge.
Talks ongoing about Charge’s future home
The Charge host the Montreal Victoire at Canadian Tire Centre, home of the NHL’s Senators, on Friday.
The PWHL is in talks with the Senators about a possible new home for the Charge, but Scheer wouldn’t elaborate.
“A lot of conversations happening behind the scenes which is where I prefer to keep them,” she stated.
Scheer also won’t discuss individual markets, but the PWHL clearly considers Edmonton an expansion option with three Takeover games there.
Alberta’s capital also hosted one of nine neutral-site games last season.
Calgary’s new event centre, Scotia Place, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2027.
It will be a busy building, however, if the NHL’s Flames, AHL’s Wranglers, WHL’s Hitmen and National Lacrosse League’s Roughnecks all continue playing out of one venue that is also expected to attract more concerts to the city.
The NHL’s Oilers and WHL’s Oiler Kings are the main tenants at Rogers Place. Neither Edmonton nor Calgary boasts another arena in the 7,000-seat range.
Meanwhile, Scheer is confident there’s enough depth of talent in women’s hockey to support a significant expansion.
“We feel very comfortable that the quality of play will not be impacted,” she stated. “There are so many talented players right now that don’t have a place in this league because of only being eight teams.
“Expanding will provide more opportunity for these outstanding athletes, not just because they’re qualified today, but playing every day at the professional level will also improve your game. We think there’s plenty of talent out there.”
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