The PWHL season is nearly under way, and yesterday the league announced the location of the Takeover Tour. 16 games will take place in neutral venues, with five cities hosting two games and 11 hosting a single game.

The Takeover Tour has been widely successful so far, with last year’s event drawing over 123,000 fans. This year, the league will be hoping to blow those numbers out of the water, but also to test potential expansion locations for the league. With two new markets for the 2025–26 season in the Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes, the league will be looking at the new sites to see where the next expansion could be. Here’s what it looks like:

Detroit feels like a safe bet for the next PWHL team

Looking at all the cities on the PWHL Takeover Tour, Detroit feels like the most likely destination for the next PWHL team. Now into the third year in Motown, the PWHL has doubled its commitment in the city, giving it two games instead of one. Last year’s attendance was among the highest, with 14,288 people coming out to watch the game. This set a US professional women’s attendance record.

What is even more interesting is that the official announcement yesterday specifically mentioned Illich Sports + Entertainment, which is the only time that they mentioned an ownership group. This group also owns the Detroit Red Wings, which may point to this being part of the expansion framework.

Detroit’s location makes it a natural fit as well, being a drive away from Toronto and a short flight from Ottawa, Montreal, Minnesota, New York and Boston. This one feels like a no-brainer.

Two American cities to watch for in a PWHL Expansion

Besides Detroit, two American and two Canadian cities are definitely on the short list. South of the 49th parallel, Denver and Chicago are cities to keep an eye on. Not only do both cities have the population base and hockey culture to potentially support a franchise, but they are both getting two games as well.

Denver saw just over 14,000 fans at last year’s PWHL Takeover Tour, which was just a handful fewer than Detroit. They far outpaced Buffalo, Raleigh, St. Louis, and even Seattle. If they can keep it up, Denver would make sense for sure.

Chicago is interesting as they have the city size, arenas, and infrastructure for a team, but the PWHL has yet to test them out. This time, they are getting two games, which could point to some mutual interest between the league and the Chicago Blackhawks ownership group, who are co-owners of the United Center.

Which Canadian cities could get a PWHL expansion team?

Two Canadian cities could also be in line for a PWHL franchise, but both come with their challenges. Naturally, Edmonton and Rogers Place would make the most sense. Not only does Edmonton have the market and the fancy new arena, but they also sold 17,500 tickets the last time the PWHL came to town. Now with two more games this year, if they can do the same, it could point to them being in line for a team.

The problem with Edmonton is geography—they are a flight away from everywhere, and are only really close to Seattle and Vancouver. This may pose scheduling and cost challenges to moving a team there.

The other city that seems to make sense is Québec City, which sold nearly the most tickets last year, with just over 18,000. Québec City has been a discussion for an NHL franchise since it lost the Nordiques in 1995, but has yet to get one. There is some hesitation to go there by the league, and there may be a reason that we don’t know.

The PWHL could find a home in the city, and with a newer arena in the Videotron Centre, it could make sense. Geographically and size-wise, Québec City seems like a very natural fit.

A Halifax double-header—what could it mean?

Halifax is perhaps the most interesting city on the list. Not only are they one of the new cities on the list, but they are also one of the only ones without an NHL team. And they are getting not one, but two games.

There has been a major migration of major league sports to the Atlantic city, with the Canadian Premier League, Northern Super League, and National Lacrosse League all bringing teams to Halifax in the last decade.

While it is remote and with challenging weather patterns, the emergence of high-level sports in the city points to it being feasible for something like a PWHL team. Scotiabank Centre has the size to support a team, with over 11,000 seats, but Halifax is a smaller municipality- will they be able to reliably draw in fans?

It will be interesting to see what the attendance numbers look like from the Takeover Tour.

What to watch for?

The league is reportedly looking to grow to 12 teams for next season, which would likely point to four of these cities getting selected. Detroit feels like the most natural fit, but it’s anyone’s guess as to what the next three could be.

Where do you think the three expansion teams should be? Let us know in the comments or on social media.