The PWHL has confirmed that it will expand to 8 teams next season, with Seattle and Vancouver being confirmed as the two new locations. According to reports, the league is actively planning to add an additional two teams to the league in 2026-27, bringing the total to 10.
The new cities give the league a strong presence in the Pacific Northwest, traditionally a hockey and women’s sports hotbed. There were reports that PWHL executives believed that there was a time crunch to gain a foothold out west before another start up launched in the area.
With Seattle and Vancouver less than a 3 hour drive from one another, it makes for a natural rivalry for the two franchises, while also making logistical travel sense for the eastern based teams.
“Of course the geography makes a ton of sense and I think we have a built-in rivalry here that will just naturally happen,” executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer told reporters. “But most importantly is they met all the criteria in terms of what we were looking for. There’s just a ton of business reasons to do it. And those are the only things we’re focused on.”
“I think we’ve been pretty clear from the outset that this is the first year of a multiyear process,” Scheer continued. “It could come in Year 4. It could come Year 5. I think that those conversations are still being had.”
“I feel more encouraged than ever about what our business looks like and what our business can be,” she said. “As we look to expand and move beyond Year 3, we’ll have plenty of suitors along the way as we look to grow.”
Seattle’s expansion bid was led by the Seattle Kraken and the Oak View Group, with the new team planning to play out of Climate Pledge Arena. Meanwhile, Vancouver will play out of the Pacific Coliseum for the 2025-26 season.
Neither Seattle nor Vancouver have announced nicknames publicly as of yet, leading many to assume they will take a page out of the Utah HC’s playbook and take their time to unveil any official logos, or namesakes.
Both clubs have already begun taking deposits for season tickets amongst their fanbase.
Photo: Daniel Schwen. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.