![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26071190814673-1100x733.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Fans get excited during a PWHL game between the New York Sirens and the Minnesota Frost at Little Caesars Arena, in Detroit on March 16, 2025. (David Guralnick\/Detroit News via AP, file)<\/p>\n
The Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League is coming to a TV set near you in the United States.<\/p>\n
The league announced that its neutral-site game at Detroit on March 28 between the New York Sirens and Montreal Victoire will be the first accessible to a national U.S. television audience. The PWHL has chosen Scripps Sports to broadcast the game on ION, which is accessible to 126 million American households, in a one-time deal that could potentially turn into a long-term partnership.<\/p>\n
Scripps already has a track record of broadcasting women\u2019s sports as a rights-holder for WNBA and NWSL games. And it has previously aired PWHL games in its NHL TV markets.<\/p>\n
The agreement also involves Detroit-based Ally Financial, which is the \u201cTakeover Tour\u201d game\u2019s primary sponsor, and has played a significant role in backing the NWSL and other women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first-ever national broadcast is a truly historic moment for our league,\u201d PWHL executive VP of business operations Amy Scheer said in a release. \u201cWe are continuing to fuel this rocket ship that is the PWHL, as we expand the reach and exposure of our league to new fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The broadcast deal comes as women\u2019s hockey enjoys a surge in momentum following the Hilary Knight-led U.S. team\u2019s gold-medal victory at the Milan Cortina Games last month.<\/p>\n
And though the PWHL has been in talks with Scripps for several years, the agreement to broadcast the game in Detroit came during discussions at Milan, Scheer told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe time has to be right, right?\u201d Scheer said, of conversations she had with Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor in Italy. \u201cIt just motivates you to want to do more. I think this is the perfect time for us to have this game on ION, and we\u2019ll see what comes of it. But we\u2019re really proud to partner with both of them to bring this moment to life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawlor has followed the PWHL closely over its three seasons and has been impressed by the recent spike in attention in women\u2019s hockey. He compared it to the surge the WNBA enjoyed with the arrival of Caitlyn Clark, Angel Reese and Cameron Brink in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been able to identify the moments where it\u2019s time to build and invest. And then we want to satisfy. There\u2019s such an interest in women\u2019s hockey right now,\u201d Lawlor said. \u201cWe want to partner with the league and build on it. And this is the first step to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PWHL has national broadcast partners in Canada, but has been limited to mostly local affiliates airing games in its four U.S. markets. All games are also available in the U.S. on the league\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
With the eight-team PWHL planning to expand by as many as four teams next season, Scheer envisioned the possibility of Scripps becoming the league\u2019s U.S. national broadcaster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope so,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd hopefully (Lawlor) wants to be part of that long term. But we\u2019ll have that conversation when the time is right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scripps is available free over the air as well as on pay and connected TV, and ad-supported streaming platforms. Aside from broadcasting WNBA and NWSL games, it also has studio shows dedicated to both leagues.<\/p>\n
The PWHL is already enjoying a post-Olympic surge. It\u2019s first three games following the Olympic break were sold out, including a turnout of 17,335 in Seattle to set a U.S. pro women\u2019s hockey attendance record. On Sunday, the Sirens set a home attendance record of 8,264 fans at the Prudential Center, more than double the team\u2019s average this season.<\/p>\n
And the league has already sold out upcoming games at Madison Square Garden and Boston\u2019s TD Garden.<\/p>\n
Ally has made a commitment to equally invest in men\u2019s and women\u2019s sports. It\u2019s backing of the NWSL led to the league\u2019s 2022 championship game being the first broadcast in prime time. In 2024, Ally\u2019s investment led to the U.S. Women\u2019s Open featuring a $12 million purse, the largest in women\u2019s golf history.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo us, it\u2019s just another milestone in what\u2019s been four years of, I think, being an architect of a pretty amazing movement that\u2019s happening in women\u2019s sports,\u201d Ally chief marketing officer Andrea Brimmer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to think we didn\u2019t catch the wave, we helped create the wave, candidly in terms of what\u2019s happening in women\u2019s sports,\u201d Brimmer added. \u201cAnd I think we\u2019re trying to do the same thing here with hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fans get excited during a PWHL game between the New York Sirens and the Minnesota Frost at Little…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[5,5892,33070],"class_list":{"0":"post-502641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hockey","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-michigan-sports","10":"tag-women"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116226286710538365","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}