Highlights from the league’s opening week
TORONTO, ON (January 8, 2024) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) officially dropped the puck on its inaugural season and enjoyed an exciting week of highlights, including record attendance, historic broadcast and streaming numbers, substantial digital engagement, and a multitude of on-ice achievements.
ATTENDANCE
- The PWHL made history with a crowd of 13,316 on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center for PWHL Minnesota’s home opener against Montréal, representing the most ever to attend a professional women’s hockey game worldwide.
- Saturday’s attendance made it two records in five days for the PWHL, surpassing the sold-out crowd of 8,318 on Tuesday night at The Arena at TD Place for PWHL Ottawa’s home opener against Montréal that initially set a new professional mark.
- The PWHL’s attendance total through five games is 30,335.
BROADCAST AND STREAMING
- The first game in PWHL history reached 2.9 million Canadian viewers on New Year’s Day, with live coverage delivered by the league’s three Canadian national broadcast partners CBC, Sportsnet, and TSN.
- The debut game generated a combined average audience of 879K (2+) and was the number one sports or entertainment program of the day across all networks.
- Streaming of the first five games on the league’s YouTube channel has generated over 634.6K views and over 5.3 million impressions.
DIGITAL PLATFORMS
- Owned content posted on PWHL social media platforms including Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube between December 31 and January 6 generated over 36.7 million impressions.
- There were over 141K social media posts about the PWHL made by users outside of league accounts on X, Facebook, and YouTube that generated over 259.3 million impressions, 6.7 million engagements, and 15.4 million video views.
- During opening week, PWHL and team social media accounts gained a significant following, with a 117% increase in followers across Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube.
- The league’s website thepwhl.com received visits from 912K new users and generated over 3 million page views.
ON THE ICE
- Minnesota leads the PWHL with two wins and six points and remains the league’s only unbeaten team – and the only team to win a game on home ice.
- 22 goals were scored by 18 different PWHL skaters, led by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle with four goals in two games, including the league’s first hat trick on Saturday.
- Historic first team goals were scored by Ella Shelton (New York), Hayley Scamurra (Ottawa), Claire Dalton (Montréal), Taylor Heise (Minnesota), Theresa Schafzahl (Boston), and Natalie Spooner (Toronto). All first goal pucks will be donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
- First team shutouts recorded by Corinne Schroeder (New York) and Maddie Rooney (Minnesota).
- First overtime goal in PWHL history scored by Ann-Sophie Bettez (Montréal).
- First shorthanded goal in PWHL history scored by Emma Maltais (Toronto) was also the first instance of the league’s innovative penalty kill rule where a shorthanded goal ends the penalized team’s minor penalty.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
- Five more PWHL games are on tap in the week ahead including three at NHL facilities. New York hosts their first game at UBS Arena against Montréal on Wednesday, and Minnesota plays two more home games at Xcel Energy Center, beginning Wednesday against Toronto, and Sunday against New York.
- Saturday features a doubleheader, starting with the first ‘Battle of Ontario’ between Ottawa and Toronto at Mattamy Athletic Centre, followed by Montréal’s home opener against Boston at Verdun Auditorium.
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET – Montreal at New York (UBS Arena)
Linear TV: MSG
Streaming: TSN+, YouTube
French: RDS2
8:00 p.m. ET – Toronto at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center)
Linear TV: Bally Sports North Extra, NESN, Sportsnet Pittsburgh, TSN4/5
Streaming: YouTube
Saturday, January 13, 2024
1:00 p.m. ET – Ottawa at Toronto (Mattamy Athletic Centre)
Linear TV: CBC
Streaming: CBC Gem, YouTube
3:30 p.m. ET – Boston at Montreal (Verdun Auditorium)
Linear TV: CBC, NESN
Streaming: CBC Gem, YouTube
French: Radio-Canada, ICI TOU.TV
Sunday, January 14, 2024
4:00 p.m. ET – New York at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center)
Linear TV: Bally Sports North, MSG/MSG2, NESN, Sportsnet East/West/Pacific
Streaming: Sportsnet+, YouTube
Visit thepwhl.com to purchase tickets and merchandise, and subscribe to the PWHL e-newsletter to receive the latest league updates. Follow the league on all social media platforms @thepwhlofficial plus all six team accounts @pwhl_boston, @pwhl_minnesota, @pwhl_montreal, @pwhl_newyork, @pwhl_ottawa, and @pwhl_toronto.
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Media Contact:
Paul Krotz
PWHL Director of Communications
647-505-8010
paul.krotz@thepwhl.com