PWHL expanding into Seattle, team to play at Climate Pledge Arena

The sun is shining on Seattle with more beaming growth in the city’s sports scene.

The Professional Women’s Hockey League will be next. The 16-month-old league announced a move that was long-anticipated on Wednesday, expanding into the Seattle market with a team that will debut starting in the 2025-26 season as part of a league outreach effort across North America. 

The team will be formally named “PWHL Seattle,” wearing the colors emerald green and cream, until permanent team branding is identified at a later date. A news conference is scheduled at 11am PT on Wednesday at Climate Pledge Arena, which will serve as the team’s home venue and shared with the NHL counterpart 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 operations Amy Scheer in a statement. 

“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.” 

The Kraken, who have sold out every regular season and playoff home game in franchise history, will be a neighbor in more than one capacity. They will also share the three-rink layout of Kraken Community Iceplex with the PWHL Seattle team, who will train at the complex in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle. 

“Seattle is an incredible sports city and we’ve seen firsthand the passion for the women’s game – at both the US v Canada Rivalry game and the PWHL Takeover Tour,” said Kraken owner Samantha Holloway in a statement. “We’re also proud to grow the game of hockey at Kraken Community Iceplex and together we’ll continue to inspire the next generation of hockey players and fans alike.”

The city’s roots are well-entrenched in women’s professional sports with the Storm’s grip on the WNBA with four league championships, and OL Reign’s success in the National Women’s Soccer League. Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are icons in each of their sport, well connected to the Puget Sound region. But after the renovation of Climate Pledge Arena which introduced the Kraken and the NHL to Seattle four years ago, women’s hockey made their move on the city’s landscape with two landmark events over the last two years. 

First, the U.S.-Canada Rivalry Series broke a box office record two years ago in a 4-2 victory for the United States at Climate Pledge Arena, led by women’s hockey star forward Hilary Knight, who scored twice and added an assist before 14,551 fans, the largest crowd in national women’s hockey history on United States soil.

The PWHL, whose league and teams are owned by MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and wife Kimbra, then took a turn on the Seattle stage and with similar fanfare when 12,608 fans turned out for Boston’s 3-2 win over Montreal, three months ago at Climate Pledge Arena, as part of a nine-leg stop on the league’s tour through numerous north American cities. Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke, forwards Matty Beniers, Shane Wright, and goaltender Joey Daccord were spotted in attendance, while assistant coach Jessica Campbell participated in the ceremonial puck drop with Knight, suiting up for Boston, and Montreal counterpart Marie-Philip Poulin. 

The city of Vancouver, British Columbia, awarded a PWHL expansion franchise last week, drew the largest turnout on the entire tour with a sellout crowd of 19,038 fans at Rogers Arena. Detroit and Denver were reportedly considered as expansion markets, according to the Associated Press. 

The league’s move west puts Seattle and Vancouver within an eight-team circuit which includes a cluster of five northeast region teams – Boston, New York, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, and an additional stop in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Athletic reported that Scheer said the PWHL plans to execute a schedule in a “smart” way, possibly massaging travel between east and west coast teams, and to the extent of using future Takeover Tour stops to ease travel burdens. 

PWHL Seattle will become the third team to occupy Climate Pledge Arena on a full-time basis, joining the Kraken and Storm. The league’s draft will take place on June 24 in Ottawa.