Latest news with #AmyScheer
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Seattle gets PWHL's second expansion team, to begin play in 2025-26
Another week, another new PWHL team. Seattle is getting an expansion team that will begin play in the 2025-26 season, the league announced Wednesday. With last week's announcement of an expansion team in Vancouver, the PWHL will have eight teams next season. Advertisement "The opportunity to start a new chapter of women's hockey in the Pacific Northwest ... has so much meaning for our league," Amy Scheer, the executive vice president of PWHL business operations, said in a statement. "The (NHL's Seattle) Kraken already have been unbelievably supportive, and it's a joy to have PWHL Seattle join the WNBA's Storm and the NWSL's Reign, who are skyscrapers in the city's towering sports landscape.' The still-to-be-named Seattle team will play at Climate Pledge Arena, home of both the Kraken and the Storm. Its colors will be emerald green and cream. The PWHL began play last year, and it quickly became obvious there was room for growth. It's already passed the 1 million mark in total attendance, and has repeatedly set single-game records for women's hockey in the United States. Its "Takeover Tour" — games played in potential expansion cities — was wildly successful, drawing 123,601 fans to the nine games. That included the 12,608 people, then a season high, who turned out for a Jan. 5 game at Climate Pledge Arena. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: PWHL adds Seattle team, joining Vancouver as 2025 expansion franchises
Boston Globe
23-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
PWHL plans further expansion, and eyes 2026 Olympics to broaden reach in Europe
'By every measure, we're ahead of where we thought we would be. And we never thought we were going to be this niche six-team league in the northeast of North America,' Kasten said. 'Our manifest destiny is a lot more than six. It's a lot more than eight. I don't know how many,' he added. 'My point is, we're going to be a league like every other real major league, and that's our goal. ... We're going to be spread — our footprint will be across this continent and hopefully others as well.' Advertisement Expansion plans Without making a firm commitment, Kasten said there was enough interest from major markets that missed out on expansion this year to add even more teams by 2026-27. He said the league will have a better timeline on the next expansion phase based on how smoothly Vancouver and Seattle are incorporated. Advertisement 'I'll know by midseason what I think we should do and we'll go from there,' he said. 'I don't know if it's the year after or the year after that, but I think it'll be sooner than most people ever imagined.' Eye on Europe What's clearer is the league turning its focus toward Europe to coincide with the Olympics, and a women's hockey tournament predominantly featuring PWHL talent. Kasten said there have been discussions about playing exhibition games in Europe within the next two years, as well as building ties with European leagues for developmental purposes and even of one day establishing teams there. 'Europe is a big part of our future,' Kasten said. 'I think our presence on the international stage next year is going to be really well-timed, a propitious step for us,' he added. 'We think the period before the Olympics, during the Olympics and after the Olympics are very important to the next stage of our development.' Kasten spoke from Ottawa where he attended Game 2 of the best-of-five Walter Cup Finals series, which is tied at 1 after defending champion Minnesota's 2-1 overtime win. Attendance jumps The PWHL is closing its second season, which featured jumps in attendance, revenues, sponsorships and goal scoring — from 4.8 to 5.02 per outing — over the inaugural season. Average attendance rose from 5,448 per contest last year to 7,260 due in part to nine neutral site games drawing a combined 123,601 fans. Attendance in Toronto and Montreal jumped with both teams playing in larger venues, though Minnesota and Ottawa had slight drops in average turnout when not including their designated 'home' neutral site games. Turnout continues to lag in New York where the Sirens finished last in the standings for a second straight year while averaging a league-low 2,764 fans per game — up from 2,496 last year — at the NHL Devils' home, the Prudential Center. Advertisement Executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer said the league's sponsorships increased from 40 to 60, and merchandise sales doubled — helped by the PWHL unveiling logos and nicknames for its six teams this season. Kasten doesn't discount needs the PWHL has to address, noting the league intends to increase promotions and improve venues in various markets. Another concern is how fanbases will respond to each of the six existing teams standing to lose four players each as part of the expansion process next month. Hopeful future For Kasten, that doesn't take away what the league has accomplished in 23 months since being launched by his boss, Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and wife Kimbra, tennis icon Billie Jean King, and Ilana Kloss. As the PWHL's financial backer, Walter committed hundreds of millions of dollars as part of a long-term vision to bring together the world's top women players in one league. Kasten said the initial projection for attendance was 1,000 per game for a league that in March surpassed the 1 million mark, including playoffs. 'I see us on a very distinct upward track able to look towards seasons where we can start to turn the corner and be in the black,' Kasten said, looking ahead to 2031. 'We're far away from that now and that's OK. We projected that,' he added. 'But when that happens, we can also think about expanding the schedule. And with an expanded schedule in an environment where you're finally making money, well, now there's more money for more people. Advertisement 'And so I hope by then we're at that point. That would thrill me.'
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fans don't like it, but PWHL parity is the league's primary concern
It's not like you weren't warned. The outrage at the PWHL expansion draft plans is coming through at the highest of decibels right now. On the one hand, it's expected. Teams that have spent the better part of two seasons building up their teams to compete for a Walter Cup are now being told everyone on their roster save their top three choices to protect is now free for the expansion teams in Vancouver and Seattle to scoop up and call their own immediately. It hardly seems fair, but again, you have been told this was going to happen for months now. From the very first mention of expansion, the message from the league has been consistent. Yes, the league was very interested in expanding as soon as it was convinced it could do so, as long as it didn't come at the cost of the level of play the league had established. But perhaps just as important, if not just behind that first priority, was maintaining the parity that has made the league so riveting through two regular seasons. Consider that neither a first nor a second place regular season team has yet to make a PWHL Final and you see just how little gap there is between the top and the bottom of the league. The Boston Fleet failed to make the playoffs this year but finished this season with the exact same number of points as the two teams that will be vying for this year's Walter Cup. That closeness in talent, that parity, is what keeps a fan base locked in on the day-to-day goings on in a league. It builds excitement and disappointment and all the things that make following professional sports so important to those who do it. It's why every time PWHL Executive Vice President of Business Operations Amy Scheer or Jayna Hefford, the league's Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, addressed the public on the topic of expansion, they invariably, almost religiously, mentioned the desire for maintaining that parity, even with two clubs building from scratch. In short, this was always the plan, and if you are surprised by it, you weren't really paying attention. Of course, we understand why existing teams' fanbases would balk at losing players they consider their own, but that's where the PWHL is different than the NHL or the NBA or the NFL or any other league that has individual team ownership. This league is owned by the Mark Walter family. Walter bankrolls all six original teams just as he is paying for the two new ones coming in. He pays their salaries, their operating costs and their arena rents. He pays for everything. There is no local ownership in the PWHL, though that may come one day when the Walter family chooses to divest itself of some or all of the teams that they currently own. But right now, there is no local ownership. There is only league ownership, so it only makes sense that any move made to expand the league would be done so with the league's best interests in mind, not necessarily each individual market, as much as the respective fanbases might want that. In allowing the existing six teams to protect just three players and then one more after two have already come off an existing team's roster, the league isn't penalizing any one market. The primary concern is the health of the league as a whole and the league itself is healthiest when all members have an opportunity to win. So yes, it's going to hurt if a Toronto Sceptres' fanbase loses a popular player like a Sarah Nurse or an Emma Maltais and probably most likely a Hannah Miller who might be interested in jumping at the chance to play for her hometown market in Vancouver. But if that hurts in Toronto, it won't hurt any less in Montreal if an Erin Ambrose or a Jennifer Gardiner, another B.C.-born player who might fancy the idea of playing in her home market, is lost. Every team is going to get dinged. Some excellent players are going to be on the move and if the fanbase is unhappy, imagine the players themselves having to uproot their lives. Every existing team is going to lose four very talented players in order to put Vancouver and Seattle on a talent par with the existing six teams. A total of 24 players are going to be re-distributed to ensure that when Vancouver and Seattle hit the ice in November, they have at least an equal chance of hoisting the Walter Cup that any of the six teams returning for a third season. And by doing that, the league hopes to maintain the competitive balance that has made the PWHL such a success from Day 1. mganter@
Global News
30-04-2025
- Business
- Global News
PWHL announces Seattle expansion to join new Vancouver club on West Coast
When Vancouver's professional women's hockey team plays its first game next fall, they will have some regional competition. The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) announced its second expansion team on Wednesday, which will play in Seattle. The new team, dubbed simply PWHL Seattle for the time being, will share the Climate Pledge Arena with the NHL's Seattle Kraken. 'The opportunity to start a new chapter of women's hockey in the Pacific Northwest, combined with calling the world-class Climate Pledge Arena home has so much meaning for our league,' said PWHL executive vice president of Business Operaitons Amy Scheer. 'The Kraken already have been unbelievably supportive, and it's a joy to have PWHL Seattle join the WNBA's Storm and the NWSL's Reign, who are skyscrapers in the city's towering sports landscape.' Story continues below advertisement As is fitting for a city nicknamed the Emerald City, the team's colours will be emerald green and cream. View image in full screen The new PWHL Seattle's colours. PWHL Seattle The new team will join the league's single-entity ownership structure under The Walter Group. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy It comes a week after the PWHL announced Vancouver would be its first expansion team, playing out of the Pacific Coliseum at the PNE, and sets up the foundation for an entertaining Pacific rivalry. 'Women's teams from Seattle and Vancouver played against each other as early as 1921 and, given the proximity of our two newest cities – Vancouver is barely 140 miles away – I cannot wait for the first game in what I'm sure will be one of our fiercest rivalries,' said PWHL executive vice-presient of hockey operations Jayna Hefford. The league says details of the expansion draft to build the two new clubs' rosters, and how they will integrate into the 2025 PWHL Draft, will be released in the coming weeks. Story continues below advertisement Seattle's bid was led by the Oak View Group, which developed and operated the Climate Pledge Arena, and the Seattle Kraken. 2:35 PWHL vice-president on why Vancouver was picked as expansion team The PWHL cited the city's facilities, active women's sports fanbase and strong turnout to January's PWHL Takeover Tour game, which drew 12,608 fans, as central to the successful bid. The 2025/2026 season schedule, which will offer more details of how the league manages time zone and travel challenges created by having a pair of west coast teams alongside its original six eastern teams will be released in the late summer.
Hamilton Spectator
30-04-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
PWHL selects Seattle for 2nd expansion franchise. Plans to add another 2 by 2026-27, AP source says
The PWHL will expand to eight teams next season by adding Seattle as its second new franchise alongside Vancouver, and The Associated Press has learned that plans are already in the works to add two more in a year's time. Seattle's addition, announced Wednesday, gives the PWHL a strong foothold in the Pacific Northwest and comes a week after the unveiling of the new team in Vancouver for the 2025-26 season. The westward move broadens the league's reach across the continent in two markets with a history supporting women's sports and separated by just a three-hour drive. 'Of course the geography makes a ton of sense and I think we have a built-in rivalry here that will just naturally happen,' executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer told the AP. 'But most importantly is they met all the criteria in terms of what we were looking for,' she added. 'There's just a ton of business reasons to do it. And those are the only things we're focused on.' The two-team expansion for Season 3 is only the beginning for a league that launched in January 2024 with five Eastern franchises — Boston, New York, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto — and one in St. Paul, Minnesota. The PWHL plans to grow to 10 teams for its 2026-27 season, a person with knowledge of discussions told the AP on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The person said the league is accelerating its plans based on the strength of responses and feedback received during its eight-month expansion search in which the PWHL considered more than 20 markets . Scheer didn't entirely dispute the plan, without providing an exact timetable. 'I think we've been pretty clear from the outset that this is the first year of a multi-year process,' Scheer said as the PWHL closes the final week of the regular season . 'It could come in Year 4. It could come Year 5. I think that those conversations are still being had.' Neutral site stops this past season in Denver, Detroit, Quebec City and Edmonton each topped 14,000 fans. The new team will initially go by PWHL Seattle and its colors will be emerald green and cream. The team will play out of the NHL Kraken's Climate Pledge Arena and practice at the Kraken Community Iceplex. Vancouver also has not announced a nickname yet. Though all PWHL teams are centrally controlled by the league, Seattle's expansion bid was led by the Kraken and the Oak View Group, which developed and operates Climate Pledge Arena. Oak View has longtime ties to women's hockey, and expressed interest in landing an original six franchise when the league was established in June 2023 by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter, his wife Kimbra, and tennis icon Billie Jean King. Seattle features a growing youth hockey program, is home to the WNBA's Storm and NWSL's Reign, and previously shown support for women's hockey. In November 2022, Seattle drew a U.S.-Canada Rivalry Series record crowd of 14,551. In January, the PWHL drew a crowd of 12,608 in kicking off its nine-game Takeover Tour of neutral site games in Seattle. Boston Fleet captain and four-time U.S. Olympian Hilary Knight was a proponent of Seattle in the weeks ahead of her team's Takeover Tour game against Montreal. 'I have yet to experience another crowd like that,' Knight said of the Rivalry Series game. 'Seattle holds a special place in my mind, and that's why I'm super excited to be able to share that experience with other teammates, whether it's on the Fleet or on the Montreal team.' The PWHL plans to announce the date of an expansion draft and how Vancouver and Seattle will be integrated into its entry draft on June 24 at a later time. 'Seattle is an incredible sports city and we've seen firsthand the passion for the women's game,' said Kraken owner Samantha Holloway. 'We're also proud to grow the game of hockey ... and together we'll continue to inspire the next generation of hockey players and fans alike.' In the bigger picture, the PWHL's accelerated expansion plans coincide with wealth of college talent anticipated to enter the league over the next two years. The league's growth is also expected to lure more Europeans to North America. 'Upon launch, you've got six teams and maybe if you're not North American, you don't know really what to expect,' PWHL executive vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford said. 'Now I think these players are seeing that this league is here, it's thriving, it's growing, and they are going to want to be a part of it.' In overseeing the expansion search, Scheer was impressed by the response. 'I feel more encouraged than ever about what our business looks like and what our business can be,' she said. 'As we look to expand and move beyond Year 3, we'll have plenty of suitors along the way as we look to grow.' ___ AP Women's Hockey:
