San Jose is reportedly set to become the latest city to get a PWHL expansion franchise, with an official announcement by the league coming as soon as next week.

The PWHL officially announced expansion franchises for both Las Vegas and Hamilton, Ontario, on Wednesday, and multiple reports indicated that San Jose is next, which would give the fledgling three-year-old league 12 teams, including four in the Pacific Time Zone. The expansion teams, including recently added Detroit, would begin play in the 2026-27 season.

The exact date for the PWHL’s announcement regarding a new team in San Jose is unclear. Although paperwork still needs to be signed, The Hockey News speculated that an official announcement could come next Tuesday.

The league’s best-of-five championship series, the Walter Cup between Montreal and Ottawa, begins on Thursday and continues with games every other day. An official announcement in San Jose, if it happens on Tuesday, would come between Game 3 and, if necessary, Game 4.

San Jose’s PWHL team is expected to play at the 17,435-seat SAP Center, also home of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks.

Besides Las Vegas, Hamilton, Montreal and Ottawa, the PWHL has teams in Boston, Minnesota, New York, Seattle, Toronto, Detroit and Vancouver.

News of the league’s expansion to San Jose began last week, as the PWHL was in the midst of increasing its membership from eight to up to 12 teams. The league began with six teams in 2024, and added the Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes before the 2025-26 season. Those two teams, playing in large arenas, led the PWHL in average attendance this past season.

San Jose would be the first California-based team in the league, which officially added Detroit as a ninth team earlier this month. The new teams in Detroit, Hamilton and Las Vegas do not yet have nicknames, although they have official colors.

“We do need to geographically expand past the northeast and the north in general,” Amy Scheer, PWHL executive vice president of business operations, recently told The Associated Press. “So that’s 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.”

The Sharks would not own San Jose’s PWHL team. All league teams have separate front offices but are owned and operated by TWG Global, whose sports portfolio also includes the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Lakers.

SAP Center could be a busy place for hockey in the winter and spring months. This past year, the PWHL’s regular season ran from late November to late April, with each team playing 30 games, including 15 at home. The Sharks will play 42 home games in 2026-27 from September to April as the NHL expands from an 82-game regular season to 84.

“We’re stoked, and we’re proud of how far we’ve come in a short time,” Scheer said of the league’s rapid expansion. “But, the work starts now, right? It’s wonderful to make announcements. But that’s really when the real work comes, and the proof is in the pudding.”