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The Professional Women’s Hockey League, made up of six teams, is launching its expansion process and plans to add two franchises for the start of the 2025-2026 season, a league executive announced Tuesday. And Quebec has already announced its intention to be a candidate for an expansion franchise, one of several cities that could welcome new teams.

On Wednesday, the league is expected to officially announce that a game between the Ottawa Charge and the Montreal Victoire on January 19 will take place at the Videotron Center in Quebec City.

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Quebec city councilor Jackie Smith confirmed the neutral site match on Tuesday. La Victoire has planned a press conference for Wednesday at the Videotron Center.

Smith called the development the first step toward creating an expansion team in Quebec.

Speaking at the ESPNW Summit in New York, PWHL Senior Vice President of Business Operations Amy Scheer said the league will begin sending out requests for proposals for expansion in multiple markets as early as next week, all also accepting applications.

“(We’re looking for) the right market size, the right fan base, the right facilities, the right economic opportunities — so a lot of research to do over the next few months,” Scheer said, without specifying which markets the league could address. targeting. “But yes, I am looking to continue to build the league and increase the number of teams.”

Candidates for U.S. expansion include Detroit and Pittsburgh, where the PWHL hosted neutral-site games in its inaugural season last year. Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia are also reportedly considered candidates after both were considered before the league established teams in Boston, New York and Minnesota. Denver and Seattle are also considered potential candidates.

In Canada, Calgary would also be a potential option to join Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto in the league. Calgary previously hosted the Inferno from 2011 to 2019, before the closure of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.

Scheer also announced that the league plans to hold neutral-site games in nine markets in North America and is considering hosting an outdoor game. Scheer added that the league was also working on hosting games in Europe, without specifying when that might take place.

The PWHL’s second season begins Nov. 30 and features an expanded schedule with each team playing 30 games, up from 24 last year. The league has not yet announced where its neutral site games will be played.

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