NEW YORK AND TORONTO (February 10, 2026) — The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) will be featured in a new documentary offering unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the league’s inaugural season in 2024. Produced by Hello Sunshine, alongside Ally Financial and the Lyda Hill Philanthropies’ IF/THEN® Initiative, The Inaugural Season of the PWHL will debut Feb. 16, 2026, exclusively on Peacock. The film marks the next chapter of The Rise, the landmark documentary series chronicling the seismic growth of women’s sports.
About Hello Sunshine’s The Inaugural Season of the PWHL:
A defiant group of elite women’s ice hockey players — Olympians and World Champions — spent years fighting for a league worthy of their talent. After years of rejection, these women caught the attention of Billie Jean King and Dodgers owner Mark Walter and after years of struggle, a new professional women’s hockey league was born. This documentary follows the historic inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League and the relentless athletes who drove the league to the first championship.
The documentary features players Alex Carpenter, Aerin Frankel, Sophie Jaques, Brianne Jenner, Hilary Knight, Marie-Philip Poulin, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Natalie Spooner. It also includes PWHL Advisory Board members Billie Jean King, Stan Kasten, and Ilana Kloss, along with Executive Vice Presidents Jayna Hefford (Hockey Operations) and Amy Scheer (Business Operations).
Directed and executive produced by Patty Ivins Specht (Billie Jean King’s Groundbreakers (PBS), Wynonna Judd: Between Hell & Hallelujah (P+)). Additional executive producers include Gina Matthews, Grant Scharbo, Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Jayna Hefford, Amy Scheer, Kasey Barrett, and Azon Juan.
Hello Sunshine’s Reese Witherspoon, Sara Rea, Zoe Fairbourn, Sue Kinkead, Lyda Hill, Ty O’Neil, and Nicole Small serve as executive producers across The Rise, with Ashlyn Harris acting as consulting producer.
“From the players who fought for a professional hockey league worthy of their talent to the young women reshaping the future of X Games, these documentaries capture women changing sports from the inside out,” said Sara Rea, Head of Unscripted at Hello Sunshine. “The Rise is about honoring that courage and showing what’s possible when women finally get the platform they deserve.”
“From the beginning, our goal was to build a league that treated women’s hockey with the seriousness, investment, and respect it has always deserved,” said Stan Kasten, PWHL Advisory Board member, and President & CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers. “This documentary provides an inside look at the relentless effort it took to make the PWHL a reality and the significance of the inaugural season that followed.”
Ally’s role in making The Rise a reality continues the brand’s longstanding commitment as a catalyst for change in the sports ecosystem, including its unprecedented public pledge to spend equally on men’s and women’s sports media along with intentional sponsorship investments across the NWSL, WNBA, Unrivaled, PWHL, USGA, college athletics and beyond. Under the leadership of Sara Rea, Hello Sunshine continues to build a robust slate of women’s sports storytelling, including Women’s Sports Now (Roku), F1: The Academy (Netflix), and Surf Girls (Amazon Prime).
The Inaugural Season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League and The Gold Medal Girls of X Games premiere February 16, 2026, exclusively on Peacock.
ABOUT PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S HOCKEY LEAGUE (PWHL)
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that features the best women’s players in the world. It is comprised of eight teams: Boston, Minnesota, Montréal, New York, Ottawa, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver. Launched on January 1, 2024, the PWHL has broken multiple attendance records and holds the worldwide all-time record for a women’s hockey game. The league was recognized by Sports Business Journal as the Sports Breakthrough of the Year, and ranked No. 1 in Canada for corporate reputation in both 2024 and 2025, according to the Harris Poll. Visit thepwhl.com to purchase tickets and merchandise, and subscribe to the PWHL e-newsletter for the latest updates. Follow the league on social media @thepwhlofficial.
PWHL, the PWHL Logo, and PWHL team names and logos are trademarks of the PWHL. © PWHL 2026. All Rights Reserved.
About Hello Sunshine
Founded by Reese Witherspoon, Hello Sunshine puts women at the center of every story it creates, celebrates and discovers. Hello Sunshine is a multichannel media company shining a light on where women are now and helping them chart a new path forward. Hello Sunshine is also home to Reese’s Book Club, The Home Edit and Fair Play. These brands are fast growing in reach and influence with communities that are propelled by meaningful connections, commerce experiences, and sophisticated content and media ecosystems.
Hello Sunshine is part of Candle Media, an independent, creator-friendly home for cutting-edge, high-quality, category-defining brands and franchises. By bringing together elite talent operating at the intersection of content, community, and commerce, it helps to position leading entertainment businesses for accelerated, sustainable growth in the current market and beyond. Candle is run by its Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs, leading entertainment executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, and backed by investment capital from funds managed by Blackstone’s flagship private equity business.
About Peacock
Peacock is the streaming home of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. Fans can stream thousands of hours of culture-defining entertainment, including current seasons of NBC and Bravo series; exclusive and critically acclaimed Originals; blockbuster and award-winning recent films from Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination, and Focus Features; America’s premier live sports and events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the NFL and the NBA; live daily news; and an expansive library of beloved films and TV shows. Built on powerful technology, Peacock is an engaging entertainment destination with interactive, innovative features that bring NBCUniversal’s fan-favorite content to life at home and on the go. Visit PeacockTV.com to learn more.
About Ally Financial
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a financial services company with the nation's largest all-digital bank and an industry-leading auto financing business, driven by a mission to "Do It Right" and be a relentless ally for customers and communities. The company serves customers with deposits and securities brokerage and investment advisory services as well as auto financing and insurance offerings. The company also includes a seasoned corporate finance business that offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies. For more information, please visit www.ally.com.
For more information and disclosures about Ally, visit https://www.ally.com/#disclosures.
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About the Lyda Hill Philanthropies and the IF/THEN Initiative
Lyda Hill Philanthropies encompasses the charitable giving for founder Lyda Hill, a life-long entrepreneur, philanthropist and advocate for science-driven solutions to global challenges. Founded in 2019, the IF/THEN® initiative seeks to further advance women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by empowering current innovators and inspiring the next generation of pioneers. IF/THEN® is designed to activate a culture shift among young girls to open their eyes to STEM careers by: (1) funding and elevating women in STEM as role models, (2) convening cross-sector partners in entertainment, fashion, sports, business and academia to illuminate the importance of STEM everywhere, and (3) inspiring girls with better portrayals of women in STEM through media and learning experiences to pique their interest in STEM careers. Putting words to action, the initiative has launched an Emmy-nominated television series, Mission Unstoppable, created the IF/THEN® Collection, the world’s largest free resource library of photos and videos of diverse women in STEM, and launched the #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit, a monumental installation of 120 life-sized 3D-printed statues of real women STEM professionals. IF/THEN® content has garnered hundreds of millions of views from women and girls furthering the approach that if you support women and girls in STEM, then you can change the world.
Instagram, TikTok: @IfThenSheCan