Investors' Guide To Women’s Sports
PWHL Season Three Recap 🏒
As the PWHL Walter Cup Finals get underway, the postseason serves as a reminder of just how much momentum the league has built in just three short seasons. The league has evolved from a startup league into a major player in the women’s sports ecosystem.
Here’s a recap of how the PWHL has flourished in its third season:
The PWHL surpassed 1 million fans during the regular season for the first time in league history.
Across 120 games, 1,116,497 fans attended games, averaging 9,304 fans per game – a 71% increase from the league’s inaugural season.
The league set a new U.S. arena attendance record for a women’s hockey game when 18,006 fans sold out the first-ever PWHL game at Madison Square Garden.
61 PWHL players competed in the 2026 Winter Olympics, representing 8 different countries.
In-arena sales of PWHL gear double compared to last season, while online merchandise sales increased more than 50%.
Corporate partnerships were up 35% this season, with new brands including: AERO (Nestlé), DoorDash, Global Industrial, Aveeno, Symetra, and Alaska Airlines.
Live YouTube viewership increased 77%, with viewers watching games from 154 countries
The league expanded its reach through the 2025–26 PWHL Takeover Tour, hosting games in 11 neutral-site cities, including Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Halifax, Hamilton, Washington D.C., Winnipeg, Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, and Québec City.
During the 2026 Detroit Takeover Tour stop, Scripps Sports teamed up with the PWHL to broadcast its first-ever game on national linear television in the U.S. on ION.
The Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes began playing in the PWHL as expansion teams during the 2025–26 season, and the league also announced that three new expansion teams will be added for season 4: Detroit, Las Vegas, and Hamilton, Ontario
The Takeaway?
The success of the PWHL isn’t just a win for women’s hockey – it’s a win for all of women’s sports. It’s a case study for what can happen when leagues prioritize visibility, infrastructure, player support, and sustainable growth from day one.
If the first three seasons are any indication, the PWHL is only getting started.
