In a historic moment for women’s sports and the landscape of hockey in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle has been granted an expansion team with the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). PWHL Commissioner Jayna Hefford announced the news on Thursday morning, marking an exciting new chapter for the league’s expansion across North America and a tremendous success for hockey fans in Washington state.
Seattle will join the league and begin its inaugural season in the 2025–26 season. It will be the seventh team in the league, and the first expansion team since the six teams when the league launched in 2023.
“This is more than a new team this is a courageous step towards the future of women’s professional hockey,” Commissioner Hefford told us at a press conference at the Climate Pledge Arena where the team will play its home games. “Seattle has historically been a passionate hockey city, and now that passion will help shape the next generation of elite women athletes.”
Seattle was an anticipated entry for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), given that there had been rumors regarding expansion for months. Seattle’s sports infrastructure, passionate fan base, and progressive history of supporting women’s sports meant the city made total sense.
Seattle is already home to the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Kraken and the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) Storm, and it’s now adding elite-level women’s hockey to its resume of professional teams and leagues. You could feel the excitement locally.
“From day one, the PWHL’s vision has centred around sustainable growth, competitive balance, and finding new markets,” offered Liz Knox, a founding board member of the PWHL Players Association. “Seattle checks all those boxes.”
More than 25,000 fans signed petitions and carried out online campaigns over the last year asking the PWHL to expand to Seattle. That kind of grassroots support, combined with considerable investment interest, made the decision by the league plannning committee almost too easy.
Seattle hockey fans are already in celebratory mode. At a pop-up team shop close to Pike Place Market, hundreds of fans turned out for the limited-edition “PWHL Seattle 2025” gear that was available just hours after the announcement.
“I’ve been watching women’s hockey grow for so long,” said longtime fan Maria Castillo. “Now we finally have our own team in the league — it means everything. My daughter can now dream of playing pro hockey right here at home.”
The announcement of Seattle is part of the PWHL’s overall growth. The league began in 2023, with clubs in Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto, and has declared that it will expand at a gradual pace with a clear growth strategy.
Last season (2024-25) the PWHL broke attendance and broadcast ratings records, including a sold-out championship final in Toronto and broadcast numbers close to the highest NCAA women’s broadcasts.
Seattle will add to the league in 2025-26, as the PWHL continues expanding west and broadening its national footprint in the U.S.
For more news, visit spacesportz.com
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