The Skilled Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is riding the wave from the worldwide highlight on women’s hockey throughout the 2026 Olympics.
Sixty-one PWHL athletes competed within the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games, putting up a competitive 18-day tournament that resulted in victory for the U.S. team. Within the lead-up to the high-profile gold-medal game, experts had told Global News that the Olympic stage was a venue to “take the PWHL global another way” and see whether recent interest could possibly be sustained.
There are early indications that Olympic glow isn’t fading, the league says.
In an emailed statement to Global News, the PWHL said Feb. 22 to twenty-eight was its largest home venue ticket sales week because it expanded to eight teams in April 2025.
As well as, the PWHL’s website traffic was “almost six times higher” throughout the Olympic period compared with a typical non-PWHL game period, while “73 per cent of website traffic represented recent users visiting thepwhl.com for the primary time throughout the Olympics.”
On YouTube, PWHL video views “increased 200% over the Olympic period,” suggesting that fans desired to stay engaged with the players through the league’s channels.
The PWHL also reported to Global News that throughout the month of February, merchandise sales increased 101 per cent compared with the season-to-date trend before the Olympics.
‘It isn’t surprising we see those numbers’
Cheri Bradish, a sports business professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, said the information is sensible.
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“It’s not surprising we see those numbers,” she said. “Those global touchpoints just like the Olympics really help grow the sport, and it grows the profile of the person players.
“We’re within the third season of the PWHL, and at the top of the day, it’s indicative of the expansion and interest within the league from a fandom perspective.”
The league also reported that the 61 Olympians in Milan collectively increased their social media followings by 38 per cent and greater than 760,000 followers from puck drop in Italy through Feb. 25.
The league announced Thursday that games in Madison Square Garden in Latest York City and TD Garden in Boston are sold out — the primary time PWHL teams will play in these arenas.
The Latest York Sirens will host the Seattle Torrent on April 4 at Madison Square Garden, while the Boston Fleet will tackle the Montreal Victoire on April 11 at TD Garden. These matchups also represent the biggest home game attendance for each the Fleet and the Sirens.
Amy Scheer, PWHL executive vice-president of business operations, said the league is seeing a “historic season.”
“Playing for the primary time at these two world-class arenas will probably be one other step in what has already been a historic season for our league, and the atmosphere for fans and players alike will probably be nothing in need of incredible,” she said in an announcement.
The PWHL also experienced sold-out crowds in three of the primary 4 games in its Canadian markets post-Olympics, in Ottawa (8,572) Saturday at TD Place, Montreal (10,172) Sunday at Place Bell and Toronto (8,671) Tuesday at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
While not an official sell-out, Vancouver’s crowd of 13,264 on Sunday represented the very best Canadian attendance following the Olympics and exceeded the Goldeneyes’ home average at Pacific Coliseum.
Canada’s Sophie Jaques (2) challenges with the US’ Joy Dunne (24) during a women’s ice hockey gold-medal game between the US and Canada on the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026.
(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A brand new U.S. attendance record was also set last Friday, with 17,335 fans attending the Toronto Sceptres and Torrent matchup at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena.
Bradish said the heightened tempo the league is experiencing was present before the Olympics began.
“This isn’t only a moment in time, it is a movement in time,” she said.
“Statistics and evaluation have shown us that this will probably be a sustained growth, and that’s the way in which of constructing a business model, not only necessarily a halo of the Olympics. I believe we all know strategically that we’re beyond that level, it’s greater and broader than that.”
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