The PWHL surpassed one million single-season attendees for the first time, while the partnership portfolio grew by 35%, online merchandise sales increased by 50%, and social platforms generated more than 682 million impressions
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (April 28, 2026) — The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) concluded its third regular season on Saturday with record-setting growth across attendance, viewership, digital engagement, partnerships, merchandise, and community impact, underscoring the league’s accelerating momentum heading into the playoffs.
The 2025–26 regular season marked another significant step forward for the league with the addition of two expansion teams and the continued evolution of the PWHL Takeover Tour™, further growing the excitement for women’s hockey across North America.
Below are key metrics from the regular season:
Attendance and Ticketing
- Through 120 regular season games, the PWHL totaled 1,116,497 fans in the stands across all games for an average of 9,304 per game, an increase of 28% over the entire 2024-2025 season, including playoffs, and 71% over the PWHL’s inaugural season.
- The PWHL has increased attendance in each successive season, with 653,415 fans in attendance across 90 regular season games in Season Two (average attendance of 7,260), and a cumulative attendance of 392,259 across 72 regular season games in Season One (average attendance of 5,448).
- Average attendance across all primary home venues grew by 35% season over season.
- On March 25, the league surpassed two million all-time attendees in its 275th game in league history.
- On April 17, the PWHL surpassed one million fans in a single season for the first time in league history, reaching the milestone in 109 regular season games, 30% fewer than the PWHL needed to reach its first million fans.
Partnerships
- The league and team partnership portfolio grew 35% season over season to 81 corporate partners, with notable additions including league partners AERO (Nestlé), DoorDash, Global Industrial, and Aveeno, as well as team partners Symetra, Alaska Airlines, Snoqualmie Casino and Hotel, Good Protein, LiUNA!, Organika, Mr. Sub, Tommee Tippee, and Sprouts Farmers Market.
- More than 20,000 custom signs were created by fans at sign-making stations at PWHL games, in partnership with Midea (U.S.) and Canadian Tire (Canada).
Merchandise Sales
- In-arena sales of PWHL gear doubled compared to last season, reflecting significant growth in fan demand.
- Online merchandise sales increased more than 50% season-over-season. Following the 2026 Olympics, this growth accelerated even further with an approximately 190% increase in sales versus the same period last year.
- Seattle and Vancouver expansion teams delivered standout performances in their inaugural seasons, generating the highest first-year merchandise sales of any teams in the league to date.
YouTube Viewership
- Since its inaugural season, the PWHL has streamed all games on YouTube to maximize accessibility and global reach, particularly across the United States and Europe, while cultivating a new and growing audience for women’s hockey.
- During 2025-26 regular season, live YouTube viewership increased 77% season over season, with viewers tuning in to watch PWHL games from 154 countries, up from 106 countries last season.
- The PWHL saw a 61% increase in new viewership across all league YouTube content compared to Season Two.
Social Media
- The PWHL continued to expand its global digital footprint this season by generating 682 million total impressions across league and team-owned platforms, including X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Bluesky, and YouTube, an increase of 150% compared to Season Two.
- The league also saw strong growth across its website, with traffic increasing 66% season over season and 89% of overall traffic coming from new users.
Takeover Tour
- The PWHL completed its second Takeover Tour season, featuring 16 games hosted in neutral-site cities. The 2025-26 PWHL Takeover Tour visited seven new cities experiencing the PWHL for the first time (Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Halifax, Hamilton, Washington D.C., and Winnipeg) with 200,000 attendees across all 16 stops.
- Notably, the Washington D.C. Takeover Tour stop at Capital One Arena drew a U.S. arena record for women’s hockey with 17,228 fans attending the game on January 18, 2026, which was later broken by sold-out games at Climate Pledge Arena and Madison Square Garden.
- During the second Detroit Takeover Tour stop on March 28, Scripps Sports teamed up with the PWHL to broadcast its first-ever game on national linear television in the U.S. on ION, ahead of bringing the PWHL Walter Cup Finals Presented by Scotiabank to U.S. national linear television in May.
- The Takeover Tour games are a powerful fan and youth hockey driver, and this year engaged more than 10,000 community members through local clinics, open practices, and player autograph sessions.
Community & Grassroots Hockey
- The PWHL is committed to growing the future of women’s hockey through inclusive, community-driven programming that expands access, develops talent, keeps girls in the game, and creates impact beyond the ice.
- The Ready, Set, Skate learn-to-play program introduced more than 500 new players to the game this season – up 175% from Season Two – through clinics hosted in almost every PWHL market.
- During the 2025–26 season, the PWHL saw a 500% increase in demand for all programming, including youth and adult hockey opportunities, with sold-out skills clinics and adult hockey experiences like Fantasy Camp.
- This offseason, the PWHL is hosting around 25 summer clinics across every PWHL market, reaching upwards of 1,500 young hockey players at all skill levels.
- Girls Hockey Grant Programs supported equipment, registration, and camp scholarships for more than 700 girls to access hockey.
- This season also marked the launch of the league’s first PWHL Mentorship Program, in partnership with Strong Girls United, designed to empower and inspire the next generation of girls in hockey and made possible with support from Kyndryl. The program connected 21 PWHL players with 120 youth across North America, totaling more than 100 hours of dedicated mentorship.