{"id":192,"date":"2026-05-13T14:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=192"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:36:12","slug":"pwhl-adding-expansion-teams-in-las-vegas-and-hamilton-ontario-with-1-more-coming-to-reach-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=192","title":{"rendered":"PWHL adding expansion teams in Las Vegas and Hamilton, Ontario, with 1 more coming to reach 12"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The PWHL delivered a double-shot of expansion news on Wednesday, announcing it is bringing women\u2019s pro hockey to the distinctly different markets of Las Vegas and Hamilton, Ontario.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=190\">MLB players, owners start collective bargaining, 6 1\/2 months ahead of contract\u2019s expiration<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And in now growing to 11 teams, there\u2019s one more addition still to come to make it an even dozen for a league preparing to double in size since launching with six franchises in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The Las Vegas team will be formally introduced at a news conference at the Vegas Golden Knights\u2019 home arena later Wednesday, with Hamilton to follow on Thursday, the PWHL said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of excitement and adrenaline and a lot of \u2018Let\u2019s go,\u2019\u201d league executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer told The Associated Press about an expansion process that began with the addition of Detroit last week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re stoked and we\u2019re proud of how far we\u2019ve come in a short time,\u201d she added. \u201cBut, the work starts now, right? It\u2019s wonderful to make announcements. But that\u2019s really when the real work comes, and the proof is in the pudding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Las Vegas forges new ground by introducing the PWHL to America\u2019s Southwest, a year after the league expanded into the Pacific Northwest by adding Seattle and Vancouver.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do need to geographically expand past the northeast and the north in general,\u201d Scheer said. \u201cSo that\u2019s part of the plan as we start to branch out: What are the right markets that make sense to obviously become a little bit more geographically diverse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With San Jose, California, and Denver in the running to become the next expansion market, the PWHL would be in position to break off into either two six-team conferences or three four-team divisions based on geographical proximity. The league\u2019s original six franchises are New York, Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton becomes Ontario\u2019s third franchise, and further expands the PWHL\u2019s reach across the province\u2019s densely populated \u201cGolden Horseshoe\u201d region, without drawing fans away from Toronto, located 42 miles (68 kilometers) to the east. A league neutral site outing in Hamilton in January drew 16,012 fans, with Scheer saying 70% of the turnout had never previously attended a PWHL game.<\/p>\n<p>The Hamilton-Burlington region has a population of more than 785,000, and within an hour\u2019s drive of other major centers such as London, Kitchener-Waterloo and the Niagara Region.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=188\">NFL unveils full international slate, with 49ers in Mexico City in Week 11 after Melbourne opener<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Though separated by roughly 2,200 miles (3,547 kilometers) and an international border, the two newest markets meet various league expansion criteria, including being hotbeds for female hockey development.<\/p>\n<p>Since the Golden Knights began play in the NHL in 2017, girls\u2019 and women\u2019s hockey participation in Las Vegas has grown by 600%, the PWHL said.<\/p>\n<p>And the PWHL brings another franchise to a growing sports market that includes the WNBA\u2019s Las Vegas Aces, who relocated to the city in 2018. The Aces have won three of the past four league titles and averaged more than 11,000 per outing over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n<p>As for the Hamilton region, 15% of PWHL players are from there, including Vancouver\u2019s Sarah Nurse, and Toronto teammates Renata Fast and Emma Maltais.<\/p>\n<p>The markets feature arena partners eager to work with the league on availability to ensure there are open dates to fit in games into the facility\u2019s schedules. Arena availability factored into the PWHL\u2019s decision-making with several markets ruled out because of scheduling conflicts.<\/p>\n<p>The yet-to-be-named Las Vegas team will play out of the Golden Knights\u2019 home T-Mobile Arena, and feature a color scheme of green and gold.<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton\u2019s team colors will be gold, maroon and cream. The team will play out of the city\u2019s newly renovated downtown TD Coliseum, where it will share the ice with the New York Islanders\u2019 minor-league affiliate, which is relocating from Bridgeport, Connecticut, this year.<\/p>\n<p>The arena has a 16,400 capacity for hockey. It was formerly called the Copps Coliseum, which in 1987 hosted eight Canada Cup tournament games, including Canada\u2019s two wins over the Soviet Union in the best-of-three final.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=186\">Gunfire breaks out in Philippine Senate where authorities have tried to arrest a senator<\/a><\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>AP women\u2019s hockey: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/womens-hockey<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The PWHL delivered a double-shot of expansion news on Wednesday, announcing it is bringing women\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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