Expansion is on the table for the six-team Women’s Professional Hockey League, and executives are not placing limits on which North American markets they will consider in an effort to add up to two franchises for the 2025-2026 season.

The only certainty is whether now is the time to leverage the support the PWHL generated during its first yearand the growth the league expects for its second season, which opens Nov. 30.

“I don’t think we’re ruling out a deal,” senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “It’s a good opportunity for us to learn and continue to explore.” So everything is on the table right now.

To bolster the scope of the PWHL’s expansion search, senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer told the AP the league has targeted more than 20 markets to receive requests for proposals from expansion by next week. And that doesn’t include additional markets that might come to the league for consideration.

“I think we want to be an open book, and I think we want to be open to things that we haven’t thought about or things that we haven’t thought about,” Scheer said. “Until we have the data, the facts and the conversations, we might be surprised. So let’s go.

The initial schedule calls for requests for proposals to be returned by the end of December to determine interest before evaluating each contract. Although the goal is to add two teams by next year, Hefford and Scheer aren’t committing to that being a certainty.

Scheer said geography would not be a limitation for a league that currently has teams based in Boston; Newark, New Jersey; St. Paul, Minnesota; Toronto; Montreal; and Ottawa, Ontario. Neither will a market’s affiliation with an NHL team, although both aspects will be considered.

The only factors that will help guide the search, Scheer said, will be market size, access to facilities, economic partnership opportunities and fan base potential.

Hefford doesn’t rule out considering Southern California or Seattle as possibilities, saying, “It’s a good opportunity for us to learn and continue to explore.” »

Two potential candidates are Detroit and Pittsburgh, where the PWHL played neutral site games last season. Nine more neutral-site games are scheduled this season, although the league has not yet said where they will be played.

In the United States, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia are reportedly considered candidates after both were previously considered, with Chicago and Denver also being options.

In Canada, the city of Quebec has already announced its intention to apply. Calgary would be a potential option, with the city having previously hosted the Inferno from 2011 to 2019, before the Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded.

The timing of the expansion comes as the league has a full offseason to catch its collective breath after having six months last year to start from scratch to open play on Jan. 1. The PWHL started at the end of June 2023when Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter agreed to finance the league while purchasing its North American competitor, the Premier Hockey Federation.

The PWHL averaged nearly 5,500 spectators during 72 regular season games and set an attendance record for women’s professional hockey, with 21,105 spectators for a game between Toronto and Montreal held at the arena NHL Canadiens. The league has sponsorship deals with companies including Scotiabank, Air Canada, Discover and Hyundai, while broadcasting every game in local markets as well as a streaming rights deal with YouTube, which has attracted 113,000 subscribers.

Equally important is how expansion would address an immediate need to open roster spots that would be filled by a growing number of European players looking to compete in North America and by the next generation of American college graduates. . In June, 167 players representing 19 countries declared themselves eligible for a seven-round draft in which only 42 were selected.

“The talent pool is going to continue to grow,” Hefford said.

The PWHL is centrally controlled, with each team managed by the league. There is long-term stability with Walter committing hundreds of millions of dollars to build the league and with players working under an eight-year collective bargaining agreement in effect until July 2031.

This season presents an extended schedule each team playing 30 games, compared to 24 last year. Beyond this season, Scheer said the league plans to host an outdoor game as well as games in Europe.

Expansion was always on the cards, although Scheer stressed the league was taking a patient approach.

“We will make the right decisions based on the growth of hockey, financial decisions and the best way to move forward,” she said. “No one here makes rash decisions.”

Hefford wouldn’t rule out future expansions, without saying how many teams would be ideal for a league still in its infancy.

“We know we want to grow,” Hefford said. “But I’m really having a hard time giving a number right now.”

___

AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey