The PWHL Takeover Tour is the moniker given to neutral site games played by the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). The tour brings PWHL regular season games to cities that do not currently have a league franchise, allowing fans in new markets to experience professional women's ice hockey while the league evaluates potential expansion locations.
Background Since the PWHL's inaugural season, the league has hosted regular-season games at neutral sites outside of its home markets as part of initiatives to expand its fanbase, test potential expansion markets, and grow the sport of professional women's ice hockey across North America.
During the league's second season in 2024–25, the league formalized its neutral site program as the PWHL Takeover Tour, which featured nine games across the United States and Canada. The tour expanded to 16 games for the 2025–26 PWHL season. The Takeover Tour serves several strategic purposes including: market testing, fan development, developing relationships with cities and partners, league growth, and player exposure. PWHL Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford stated that the tour has been "one of the most rewarding initiatives since our inception—for our fans, our athletes, and our staff."
The success of the Takeover Tour has influenced the PWHL's expansion strategy. Prior to announcing Seattle and Vancouver as the league's first two expansion teams in April 2025, the inaugural tour had tested markets in both cities with strong results—particularly the sold-out Vancouver game that drew over 19,000 fans. Both cities joined the league as permanent franchises for the 2025–26 PWHL season. PWHL officials have stated that the tour demonstrates the strong demand for professional women's hockey across North America and provides valuable data for future expansion decisions. Scheer noted that the league has "proven that time is overrated" regarding the pace of expansion, emphasizing that growth and profitability are interconnected objectives. At an Ottawa City Council meeting, Scheer stated: "We're going to expand at least two to four teams next year... We are in growth mode, and this league is exploding." The increasing interest in the PWHL expanding beyond its current cities was evidenced by a new single-day ticket sales record set during 2025–26 PWHL Takeover Tour presales which surpassed the previous benchmark by more than 55 percent.
Format PWHL Takeover Tour games are official PWHL regular-season contests that count toward team standings. Two of the neutral-site games are designated as home games for participating teams. The games follow standard PWHL rules and scoring systems.
2024 season The inaugural PWHL season featured two neutral site games as part of "PWHL Takeover Weekend" in March 2024.
+ 2024 PWHL neutral site games Date Venue City Visiting team Home team Score Attendance March 16, 2024 Little Caesars Arena Detroit, Michigan Ottawa Boston 1–2 (SO) 13,736 March 17, 2024 PPG Paints Arena Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Toronto Montreal 2–1 8,850
2024–25 season (PWHL Takeover Tour) The first PWHL Takeover Tour was announced on November 18, 2024, and launched on January 5, 2025. The 2024–25 season featured nine neutral site games from January through March 2025. The tour drew a total of 123,601 fans across nine games and set multiple attendance records for professional women's hockey. An estimated 80% of attendees experienced their first-ever PWHL game Fans from all 50 U.S. states and all 13 Canadian provinces and territories attended the games. Social media engagement led to a 30% increase in league-wide followers during the tour.
+ 2024–25 PWHL Takeover Tour games Date Venue City Visiting team Home team Score Attendance January 5, 2025 Climate Pledge Arena Seattle, Washington* Montreal Boston 2–3 (SO) 12,608 January 8, 2025 Rogers Arena Vancouver, British Columbia* Montreal Toronto 2–1 19,038 January 12, 2025 Ball Arena Denver, Colorado Montreal Minnesota 2–4 14,018 January 19, 2025 Videotron Centre Quebec City, Quebec Ottawa Montreal 1–2 18,259 February 16, 2025 Rogers Place Edmonton, Alberta Toronto Ottawa 3–2 (OT) 17,518 February 23, 2025 KeyBank Center Buffalo, New York Boston New York 3–2 (SO) 8,512 March 7, 2025 Lenovo Center Raleigh, North Carolina Ottawa Minnesota 0–4 10,782 March 16, 2025 Little Caesars Arena Detroit, Michigan Minnesota New York 1–4 14,288 March 29, 2025 Enterprise Center St. Louis, Missouri Ottawa Boston 2–1 8,578
*City joined the PWHL as an expansion market for the 2025–26 season.
Detroit's Little Caesars Arena was the only venue to host a second neutral-site PWHL game, having previously hosted a game on March 16, 2024, that drew a then-U.S. professional women's hockey attendance record of 13,736 fans. The second game attendance at Little Caesars Arena grew to 14,288.
Attendance records The 2024–25 Takeover Tour set multiple attendance records:
U.S. professional women's hockey record: 14,288 fans in Detroit on March 16, 2025 (breaking the previous record of 14,018 set in Denver on January 12, 2025) Fourth all-time PWHL attendance: 19,038 fans in Vancouver on January 8, 2025 (sold out) All-time PWHL single-game attendance: Five games ranked in the top 10 for attendance in league history
2025–26 season (expanded Takeover Tour) The 2025–26 season features an expanded PWHL Takeover Tour with 16 neutral site games across 11 cities from December 2025 through April 2026. The tour includes seven new markets (Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Halifax, Hamilton, Washington, D.C., and Winnipeg) and four returning markets (Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, and Québec City) from the previous season. The tour's expansion was covered extensively in Canadian media, with TSN reporting that the tour would make its regular-season debut in the four new Canadian cities.
With the PWHL's expansion to eight teams (adding Seattle and Vancouver as permanent franchises) in 2025, all eight teams in the league participate in at least three Takeover Tour games during the 2025–26 season. The 2025–26 tour includes multiple presenting partnerships and sponsors, including: DoorDash, BJ's Wholesale Club, Woody Creek Distillers, Ally Financial, Explore Edmonton, and the province of Nova Scotia.
+ 2025–26 PWHL Takeover Tour games Date Venue City Visiting team Home team Score Attendance December 17, 2025 Scotiabank Centre Halifax, Nova Scotia Montreal Toronto 2–1 (SO) 10,438 December 21, 2025 Allstate Arena Rosemont, Illinois Ottawa Minnesota 3–2 (OT) 7,238 December 27, 2025 Rogers Place Edmonton, Alberta Minnesota Vancouver 2–1 (OT) 10,264 December 28, 2025 American Airlines Center Dallas, Texas Seattle New York 3–4 8,514 January 3, 2026 Little Caesars Arena Detroit, Michigan* Vancouver Boston 4–3 9,624 January 3, 2026 TD Coliseum Hamilton, Ontario* Seattle Toronto 3–2 (SO) 16,012 January 11, 2026 Videotron Centre Quebec City, Quebec Vancouver Montreal 0–1 14,624 January 11, 2026 Scotiabank Centre Halifax, Nova Scotia Ottawa Boston 2–1 10,452 January 18, 2026 Capital One Arena Washington, D.C. Montreal New York 1–2 17,228 January 25, 2026 Ball Arena Denver, Colorado Vancouver Seattle 3–1 11,612 March 15, 2026 Ball Arena Denver, Colorado New York Minnesota 3–4 15,512 March 22, 2026 Canada Life Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba Montreal Ottawa 1–2 (OT) 15,225 March 25, 2026 Allstate Arena Rosemont, Illinois New York Seattle 1–4 10,006 March 28, 2026 Little Caesars Arena Detroit, Michigan* New York Montreal 1–3 15,938 April 1, 2026 Scotiabank Saddledome Calgary, Alberta Toronto Ottawa 2–1 16,150 April 7, 2026 Rogers Place Edmonton, Alberta Boston Vancouver 5–1 10,794 *City joined the PWHL as an expansion market for the 2026–27 season.
Attendance records
The 2025–26 Takeover Tour broke the following attendance records:
U.S. professional women's hockey record: 17,228 fans at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. on January 18, 2026, between the Montréal Victoire and New York Sirens briefly set a new record that was broken the following month by a sellout of 17,335 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on February 27, 2026, following the Winter Olympics.
Broadcast coverage All games are broadcast on YouTube to viewers in the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Australia. In Canada, broadcast partners include: TSN, Sportsnet, Amazon Prime Video, and CBC. PWHL Takeover Tour games in the United States also air on over-the-air broadcast partners in each host market, including TEGNA in Denver, Scripps Sports in Detroit, and FOX-owned stations in Chicago, Dallas, and Washington, D.C.
Statistics
Games by venue + Neutral site games by venue (through April 7, 2026) Venue City Games Total attendance Average First game Most recent Little Caesars Arena Detroit, Michigan 4 March 16, 2024 March 28, 2026 Rogers Place Edmonton, Alberta 3 February 16, 2025 April 7, 2026 Scotiabank Centre Halifax, Nova Scotia 2 December 17, 2025 January 11, 2026 Vidéotron Centre Quebec City, Quebec 2 January 19, 2025 January 11, 2026 Ball Arena Denver, Colorado 3 January 12, 2025 March 15, 2026 Allstate Arena Rosemont, Illinois 2 December 21, 2025 March 25, 2026 Rogers Arena Vancouver, British Columbia 1 19,038 19,038 January 8, 2025 January 8, 2025 Climate Pledge Arena Seattle, Washington 1 12,608 12,608 January 5, 2025 January 5, 2025 KeyBank Center Buffalo, New York 1 8,512 8,512 February 23, 2025 February 23, 2025 Lenovo Center Raleigh, North Carolina 1 10,782 10,782 March 7, 2025 March 7, 2025 Enterprise Center St. Louis, Missouri 1 8,578 8,578 March 29, 2025 March 29, 2025 PPG Paints Arena Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1 8,850 April 20, 2024 April 20, 2024 American Airlines Center Dallas, Texas 1 8,514 February 7, 2026 February 7, 2026 TD Coliseum Hamilton, Ontario 1 16,012 16,012 January 3, 2026 January 3, 2026 Capital One Arena Washington, D.C. 1 17,228 17,228 January 18, 2026 January 18, 2026 Canada Life Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba 1 15,225 15,225 March 22, 2026 March 22, 2026 Scotiabank Saddledome Calgary, Alberta 1 16,150 16,150 April 1, 2026 April 1, 2026
Games by city + Neutral site games by city City Country Games Status Detroit, Michigan 4 PWHL Detroit (expansion 2026) Edmonton, Alberta 3 No PWHL team Denver, Colorado 3 No PWHL team Halifax, Nova Scotia 2 No PWHL team Dallas, Texas 2 No PWHL team Chicago, Illinois 2 No PWHL team Quebec City, Quebec 2 No PWHL team Seattle, Washington 1 Seattle Torrent (expansion 2025) Vancouver, British Columbia 1 Vancouver Goldeneyes (expansion 2025) Buffalo, New York 1 No PWHL team Raleigh, North Carolina 1 No PWHL team St. Louis, Missouri 1 No PWHL team Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1 No PWHL team Hamilton, Ontario 1 PWHL Hamilton (expansion 2026) Washington, D.C. 1 No PWHL team Winnipeg, Manitoba 1 No PWHL team Calgary, Alberta 1 No PWHL team
See also Professional Women's Hockey League Women's ice hockey
References
External links
PWHL Schedule