Breaking barriers while reaching new heights every week seems like the norm for this league to surpass attendance records quite frequently. Booking games in neutral cities for with the DoorDash Takeover Tournement has been an outstanding marketing campaign.
As of this month, the PWHL has had a substantial increase of fans that has reached 1,980,988 on pace to surpass 2 million before the season’s end. Compared to the 2024-25 season, the PWHL has seen a 23% growth in average attendance numbers. The cat is out of the bag, and this league is no longer unnoticeable.
- PWHL Vice President of Hockey Operations, Jayna Hefford on strategically enhancing the PWHL brand:
“From day one, our focus has been on building the best environment in the world for our players to compete and succeed. That meant a Collective Bargaining Agreement that provides comprehensive benefits, introducing rules that elevate the pace and physicality of the game, and creating a league where the level of play continues to rise every night. The game has advanced every season and we’re proud to be recognized as one of the Most Innovative Companies for that growth.”
- – PWHL Vice President of Hockey Operations, Jayna Hefford
The PWHL made “Fast Companies Worlds 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2026” at #38 on the list, which is very high praise considering the caliber of companies on that Top 50 list. Fast Companies primarily reviews and gives recognition to companies that are still in the infant stages progressively developing, all the way up to well established companies known worldwide. The PWHL caught the attention of “Fast Companies”, and the Editor-In-Chief for Fast Companies, Brendan Vaughn gave some insight on how the PHWL has become a worldwide entity:
“Our list of the Most Innovative Companies is about spotlighting organizations that don’t just adapt to change; they drive it. The companies we honor this year are redefining what leadership looks like in 2026, pairing bold ideas with measurable impact and turning breakthrough innovation into real-world value. They are setting the pace for their industries and offering a blueprint for what sustained innovation can achieve.”
- – Editor-In-Chief for Fast Companies, Brendan Vaughn
The players play a huge part in gaining new fans outside of their scheduled game days, especially with the young female fans by being involved in clinics for younger hockey girls to partake in. The excitement the girls get when they are face-to-face with a PWHL superstar, taking pictures with them and getting ice time with their favorite PWHL stars is one of those embracing moments they’ll never forget.
A few of the pro players expressed their gratitude to be able to experience those moments with their younger fans:
“It allows young girls to be able to see that they can dream and they have a place to play beyond high school or college. I think that’s an amazing opportunity for them, and something that a lot of us never had growing up.”
- – Seattle Torrent FW, Cayla Barnes
“Being a young girl in hockey myself, I remember going to camps and meeting Olympians and that kind of fueled that fire within me to want to play hockey and now we can help those girls realize their dreams of playing pro. I think it’s just growing the game on a whole other level, and it’s so exciting for us as players to feel like we’re a big part of that.”
- – New York Sirens FW, Sarah Fillier
“I’ve heard from a lot of women who are maybe older, retired, or just getting into hockey and it’s super exciting for them as well just to see the growth of women’s sports and maybe a league that they maybe never had the opportunity to play in.”
- – Vancouver Goldeneyes FW, Jenn Gardiner
Dante Robinson | Senior PWHL Analyst for The NSR Network
