The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is in the midst of another successful season in its third year of existence. This season, the league has expanded to eight teams, adding the Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes. Both expansion teams have been massive hits and are in the league’s top three in attendance.
The league has also started its second-ever Takeover Tour. The PWHL will play in 11 neutral-site cities, with each vying for an expansion team. Who will be team number nine and so on is a hot conversation in the league. There are certainly favorites.
In season two, the Utah Mammoth have continued to be a staple in Salt Lake City. They have sold out every game in franchise history up until this point. It has fans clamouring for more hockey.
The Mammoth are lucky enough to have a strong female portion of their fanbase. Meetups and a game photo are common occurrences at every single game. With the massive interest in hockey and female hockey growing in the state, it begs the question. Could Utah be a strong market for a PWHL team and the league thrive in the area?
Utah’s Background With Women’s Hockey
While a pro women’s hockey team has yet to play in Salt Lake City, the state of Utah is no stranger to women’s hockey.
The most notable women’s hockey event to take place in Utah was the 2002 Winter Olympics. Women’s hockey was played in two different arenas, the Maverik Center and the Peaks Ice Arena. In order to support the Olympics, Peaks Ice Arena’s seating was increased to a temporary 8,400 from 2,000. It was needed as every woman’s game was well supported. Attendance never dipped below 5,490. It peaked at 6,298 fans at the bronze medal game between Sweden and Finland.
The games at the Maverik Center also did well. The larger arena was used for the more popular games that featured either the USA or Canada. Attendance peaked at 8,599 fans as they watched Canada squeak out a 3-2 win to capture the nation’s first gold medal in the sport, which kicked off a four-tournament streak of gold.
The Olympics haven’t been the only thing that has called Olympian women’s hockey players to Utah. Hilary Knight and Mellissa Channell-Watkins both call the state their home in the offseason. Lyndsey Fry often travels to Utah from Arizona to help with girls’ youth programs and events. Both have helped out at events to help grow the sport ever since the arrival of the Mammoth.
Notably, Knight and Channell-Watkins hosted a girls’ hockey clinic over the summer during Girls’ Hockey Day in Utah with Alex Kerfoot, who has been another big part of growing women’s hockey in Utah. 250 girls attended the clinic, many of whom played the sport for the first time that day. Fry hosted her own clinic back in March.
“We really wanted to allow for more exposure for more of the girls, and you can only have so many girls out to games,” Kerfoot said. “To be able to get on the ice with them and do a day like this, it allowed us to reach more people.”
More recently, Channell-Watkins returned before the PWHL season started to bring the Walter Cup (the PWHL championship trophy) to Utah. Fans took pictures with her and the trophy during a Mammoth game.
As mentioned, Kerfoot has been a huge part of helping grow women’s hockey in Utah. During the season, he often gives his tickets during Mammoth games to women’s hockey players and also goes the extra step to allow them sit on the bench during warm-ups. The recently relaunched Women’s Hockey Advancement Committee also met with Kerfoot in November to discuss the Mammoth’s effort to engage with women’s hockey in Utah.
“When the Mammoth moved here, it was just incredible to have more growth in the mountain region,” Knight said. “To have someone like Alex be dedicated to the work in the community and developing girls and women’s hockey is so outstanding. I can’t say enough about it. I’m really excited to be here and be a part of it.”
Related: Winter Classic Comes to Utah: Mammoth Set to Host Avalanche at Rice-Eccles Stadium
Outside of pro hockey, women’s hockey is very popular in Utah. The University of Utah has an American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) division one women’s hockey team. There is also the Utah Lady Grizzlies, which is the only all-girls hockey organization in the state.
Looking at Other Potential Expansion Cities
As mentioned, the PWHL uses the yearly Takeover Tour as a way to gauge markets’ interest in potentially having a team. Both Seattle and Vancouver were stops on the tour, and did so well that they both landed a team, proving the league does take these games into strong consideration when it comes to handing out expansion teams on top of stuff like amenities and other things.
This season, the league scheduled 16 games in 11 different neutral-site cities. Seven of those cities had never hosted a PWHL game, including Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Halifax, Hamilton, Washington D.C., and Winnipeg. The other four cities: Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, and Québec City have hosted the league in the past. Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, and Halifax all earned two games this season, presumably because these are cities the league is most interested in.
Let’s start dissecting some of these markets. Dallas did decently, showing up to support the PWHL as they watched the New York Sirens and Goldeneyes duke it out at American Airlines Center. They drew 8,514 people, which is the 27th highest attended game this season. However, despite the support, Dallas is not a great place to expand into right now. The Dallas Stars are right now in a legal battle with the Dallas Mavericks, as the NBA team has accused them of not allowing renovations to happen at American Airlines Center. It wouldn’t be a wise idea for the PWHL to place a team right in the middle of that. It wouldn’t be surprising if Texas gets a team eventually, considering they support the WNBA’s Dallas Wings pretty well, but the timing isn’t great right now.
New York Sirens celebrate a goal (Photo credit: PWHL)
Winnipeg will more than likely draw well when the Montreal Victoire and Ottawa Charge visit in March, but expanding to a smaller city like that probably isn’t the move for the PWHL just yet. Halifax and Hamilton can also be added to that category, though it seems like the league was impressed with Hamilton and the 16,012 fans that showed up to the game. The Bridgeport Islanders are likely to relocate to that area, so those two things, along with the great amenities does show that the area can support a pro team.
Edmonton and Calgary would be a great pair of cities to put in the league at the same time, similar to how the league put in Seattle and Vancouver. The league has obviously liked going to Edmonton, with the third-ever game in the city taking place in April. However, Calgary will be getting a new arena in the future, and I’m sure the league doesn’t want to play in an aging Scotiabank Saddledome. These two cities have a future in the league, but waiting until Calgary gets a new facility to expand to these cities at the same time seems like the logical answer.
Québec City has had solid attendance every time the PWHL comes to town. A team there will provide the Victoire and the Boston Fleet with a geological rivalry. The team probably would also be the primary tenant inside a massive Videotron Centre. However, the PWHL will likely want to expand in the United States and reach the Canadian prairies before expanding to the Quebec area, where they already have Ottawa and Montreal.
Chicago is a weird one. Everyone pointed at the city as one of the next locations that the PWHL will expand to. It just makes sense. It’s a devoted hockey community in a big city. It’s also close to Minnesota, giving the Minnesota Frost a geologically close rival, something that has been lacking in the PWHL. The league even gave the city two games for proof that they should get a team.
However, the game was underwhelming to say the least. The matchup between the Frost and the Charge was played at Allstate Arena, which is in Rosemont, 20 miles outside the city, and can take up to an hour to get to, depending on traffic. Only 7,243 people showed up for the game, which is well under 50% capacity for the arena.
Luckily, there are a lot of other things going for Chicago. Lots of players are from the area, the city has good hockey grassroots, and there are other venues that the league could possibly play in. Chicago will also get another game in March, which will surely be better attended. That game will be big for the PWHL’s possible expansion into the Windy City.
Washington, D.C., is a city that may have surprised the league. Their Takeover Tour broke the United States’ record for highest attendance at a women’s hockey game with 17,228 fans filling up Capital One Arena for a game between the Sirens and Victoire. Similar to Chicago, the nation’s capital has a great grassroots program and a very supportive NHL team ingrained in the community. The only thing is, where would the PWHL team play? Capital One Arena is a very busy venue.
What a huge response for women’s hockey in DC. Capital One Arena is completely packed for the PWHL Takeover Tour game between the Montreal Victoire and New York Sirens.
🎥: @katieEadler /RMNB pic.twitter.com/tGrHBLVdKI
— RMNB (@rmnb) January 18, 2026
The obvious locations for an expansion team have to be Denver and Detroit. Both cities have done extremely well when it comes to hosting PWHL games, with Denver recently hosting a game with an attendance of 11,612 despite the NFL’s Denver Broncos hosting the AFC championship next door, and Detroit having the United States attendance record before it was broken by the Torrent and later Washington D.C.
After breaking the PWHL’s US attendance record (14,018), fans in Denver chanted “we want a team” 🗣️
(via @BauerHockey) pic.twitter.com/x7HxZf2T9o
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 12, 2025
Both cities have great and available venues. Both cities have great hockey grassroots. Both cities offer great geological locations, with Detroit and Denver being closer to Minnesota than most other expansion sites. Both have had strong ties with the PWHL already, with Detroit hosting a game for the past three seasons (including two this season) and Denver hosting three games over the past two seasons. It will be surprising if these two markets don’t get a team in the very near future.
Can Utah Support a PWHL Team?
So Denver and Detroit are the two markets that are primed to be the next PWHL markets. How does Salt Lake City compare to the two cities?
There’s actually a good foundation that Salt Lake City has for a potential PWHL team. First off, the hockey community in Utah’s capital has been incredible. As mentioned earlier, the Mammoth have sold out every single home game they’ve played at Delta Center. The crowds there have been electric as well, especially the women fans of the Mammoth who meet up every game to take a picture and talk about hockey.
The grassroots of the sport are also growing with the addition of the Mammoth. Of course, there was the Jr Grizzlies before the NHL team got there, but now, Mammoth owner Ryan Smith is adding numerous youth programs and ice rinks all around the state. Interest in the sport among kids and adults has gone up significantly, helping improve not just the youth foundation but the general population’s interest in hockey.
In terms of corporations that have big footprints in Salt Lake City, there are quite a few of them. Adobe, Delta, Mountain America Credit Union, and Qualtrics are just some major companies that have some sort of major headquarters in Utah. Media coverage isn’t an issue either, with KSL handling the Mammoth’s radio feed and other outlets like the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune covering local sports.
You can count on local teams supporting a PWHL team as well. The city is home to the Utah Royals of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), which is currently the only major female sports team in the area. However, the NBA’s Utah Jazz and MLS’s Real Salt Lake draw good attendance as well, and players often show up at each other’s games.
If you’re looking for a venue to play at, there are two great ones. The obvious one is the Delta Center, where the Mammoth play. When all renovations are complete, it will hold upwards of 17,000 people, which is pretty big for a PWHL team. For reference, a normal PWHL game usually averages around 8,500 fans. Not to mention the Jazz also play at the Delta Center, making the schedule a little bit crazy if you factor in concerts and other events as well. Never count out the support of Smith, though, to make something special happen for a potential team.
Even if they can’t squeeze a PWHL team into the Delta Center, the Maverik Center is only around 10 minutes away from downtown Salt Lake City and is a perfect venue for a team. The venue can seat up to 10,010 fans, which would currently sit a Utah team right in the middle of the league in terms of capacity. It’s held women’s hockey events and other Olympic events before as well.
Most recently, it’s served as the home of the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies for years. However, the team is set to relocate to Trenton, New Jersey, after this season, leaving a spot open for a potential PWHL team. The NBA G-League’s Salt Lake Stars also play out of the arena, but a PWHL team would easily draw more fans and be the main tenant of the building.
Being in the Maverik Center would also mean they wouldn’t have to wrestle an NHL team or an NBA team for control of the arena. Their logo would be the only one at center ice, something that only the Goldeneyes have in the PWHL. They would also more than likely be able to brand the arena and team shop with their image. With the Grizzlies leaving, welcoming in another hockey team to the Maverik Center would be welcomed by hockey fans and, more than likely, the arena management as well.
Over the last six months the PNE have invested over $6 million to bring the iconic old Pacific Coliseum back to life — and to make it home of the PWHL’s Vancouver Goldeneyes.
I took a tour of the building ahead of Friday’s home opener for @TheAthletic pic.twitter.com/DW6Xt5kPFu
— Hailey Salvian (@hailey_salvian) November 22, 2025
On top of that, a practice facility would be easy to lock down too. If the team doesn’t want to practice at the Maverik Center, they can practice at the new Mammoth practice facility. It has two ice surfaces and multiple locker rooms, along with no expenses spared on things like a red light therapy room, food, and other things within the facility. With Smith’s devotion to growing the sport, Kerfoot’s mission to help women’s hockey thrive, and all of the work Kristen Bowness, the Mammoth’s youth program director, has done as well, it would be an easy yes to allow a PWHL team to use the facility.
An expansion team in Salt Lake City would more than likely be backed by the players, too. For Knight and Channell-Watkins, an opportunity to play in the city where they spend most of their offseasons would more than likely be great for them, especially if they end up getting acquired by a PWHL Utah team.
Hilary Knight, Seattle Torrent (Photo by /PWHL)
For other players, Salt Lake City is likely a solid landing spot. The weather is nicer and warmer during the season than in places like Minnesota and Montreal. NHL players, both on the Mammoth and visiting teams, have said nothing but great things about the city, mainly highlighting the people, the mountains, and the Mammoth’s facilities when talking about the city.
Salt Lake City isn’t going to be the next PWHL city. Denver and Detroit are overwhelmingly the favorites for the next two teams, and it’s shown with the league giving them two games this season, with each game being well attended. Chicago will more than likely be looked at as well for a potential expansion team before Salt Lake City, given everything that’s going for it, despite the poor attendance with the one game they hosted.
However, Salt Lake City could be a sneaky good market for the PWHL to expand into sooner rather than later. It’s got great amenities between the practice facility, the Delta Center, and the Maverik Center. It’s got a great fanbase and youth program that is growing every season. There’s a built-in rivalry with a potential team in Denver and the Frost. There are also people in the area, like Smith, Kerfoot, and others, who would welcome and support a PWHL team.
A Salt Lake City PWHL team wouldn’t be fighting a lot of other teams for attendance, with only the Jazz and the Mammoth playing during hockey season. Finally, there are players in the league, including a high-profile player in Knight, who want to see the league in the city.
“I would love it if a women’s professional team came to Salt Lake,” Knight said. “It took forever to get an NHL club, and I think it’s awesome that we have an NHL presence here in the state and can continue to build in the mountains.”
Obviously, you’re not going to put an expansion team in Salt Lake City right away, but the league should seriously consider putting a Takeover Tour stop in the city. See how it goes. Talk to Smith and others within the Mammoth organization. Take a look at all the amenities and the program. Play a game at the Delta Center. Based on everything we’ve seen in the past season and a half from the Mammoth, it will be a game well attended and talked about by hockey fans all over Utah.
