The PWHL will officially expand to Las Vegas and Hamilton, Ont., for the 2026-27 season, the league announced Wednesday.
las vegas franchise, Competitor According to reports on Tuesday, the home game will be played at T-Mobile Arena, home of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. The rink can accommodate 17,500 people for hockey games and has one of the best atmospheres in the NHL. Hamilton will play at TD Coliseum, which recently underwent a $300 million renovation.
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Vegas and Hamilton follow Detroit as part of the PWHL’s second wave of expansion, which could include a fourth team. The three new teams will join the league’s current eight markets: Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Boston, Minnesota, New York and Seattle.
The PWHL held a successful neutral-site game in Hamilton in January, attracting 16,012 fans at the TD Coliseum – the third-largest crowd on the Takeover Tour this season. There is an argument to be made that a team in Hamilton could draw support from the league’s Toronto team, which is just 40 miles away from TD Stadium. However, according to the league’s press release, more than 70 per cent of Hamilton’s “Takeover Tour” ticket buyers purchased tickets to their first PWHL game, “underscoring the league’s opportunity to attract a diverse audience,” even with the other two teams based in Ontario.
Hamilton has the potential to attract some Toronto Scepters fans from the Greater Toronto Area, but the city is also within commuting distance of southern Ontario cities such as St. Catharines, Kitchener, Waterloo and London.
“The response we saw at the Takeover Tour at TD Coliseum is a clear indication that fans in the region are ready to rally around a team of their own,” said Jayna Hefford, PWHL executive vice president of hockey operations.
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The Hamilton expansion is being done in partnership with Oak View Group, which operates TD Coliseum, and the City of Hamilton. The league will continue to operate under a single-entity ownership model, with Los Angeles Dodgers billionaire owner Mark Walter and his wife Kimbra owning the PWHL and all of its teams.
Expanding to Las Vegas is somewhat of a departure from the norm for the PWHL, which launched its first three expansion teams in markets as part of an “acquisition tour.” However, Amy Scheer, the league’s executive vice president of business operations, said, “Las Vegas is ready to welcome and support a PWHL team of its own.”
Las Vegas has quickly become a center for major professional sports. According to a press release from the PWHL, youth hockey participation in Nevada has surged 600 percent since the Golden Knights’ inaugural season in 2017, especially among girls and women.
“From the incredible growth in youth hockey participation to the passionate support of the Golden Knights and Aces,” Schell said, “the Las Vegas community has passionately embraced hockey and women’s sports.”
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The PWHL’s expansion into Vegas also expands the league’s footprint into the American Southwest. The city’s transportation accessibility, hotel infrastructure and world-class amenities make Vegas a “long-term fit for the PWHL,” according to the release. The Golden Knights and MGM Resorts International, part owner of T-Mobile Arena, support the league’s efforts to expand to Vegas.
“The PWHL coming to Vegas is a milestone for women’s hockey and our entire community,” said John Penhollow, president of business operations for the Vegas Golden Knights. “We are proud of the progress youth hockey has made locally and are even more excited about the path forward and opportunities for generations to come.”
As part of Wednesday’s announcement, the league revealed each team’s official colors and said team names and logos will be announced at a later date. Hamilton’s team colors are gold, maroon and cream; Vegas will wear green and gold.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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