PWHL selects Seattle for 2nd expansion franchise. Plans to add another 2 by 2026-27, AP source says

The PWHL will expand to eight teams next season by adding Seattle as its second new franchise alongside Vancouver, and The Associated Press has learned that plans are already in the works to add two more in a year’s time.

Seattle’s addition, announced Wednesday, gives the PWHL a strong foothold in the Pacific Northwest and comes a week after the unveiling of the new team in Vancouver for the 2025-26 season. The westward move broadens the league’s reach across the continent in two markets with a history supporting women’s sports and separated by just a three-hour drive.

‘‘Of course the geography makes a ton of sense and I think we have a built-in rivalry here that will just naturally happen,’’ executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer told the AP.

‘‘But most importantly is they met all the criteria in terms of what we were looking for,’’ she added. ‘‘There’s just a ton of business reasons to do it. And those are the only things we’re focused on.’’

The two-team expansion for Season 3 is only the beginning for a league that launched in January 2024 with five Eastern franchises — Boston, New York, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto — and one in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The PWHL plans to grow to 10 teams for its 2026-27 season, a person with knowledge of discussions told the AP on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The person said the league is accelerating its plans based on the strength of responses and feedback received during its eight-month expansion search in which the PWHL considered more than 20 markets.

Scheer didn’t entirely dispute the plan, without providing an exact timetable.

‘‘I think we’ve been pretty clear from the outset that this is the first year of a multi-year process,’’ Scheer said as the PWHL closes the final week of the regular season. ‘‘It could come in Year 4. It could come Year 5. I think that those conversations are still being had.’’

Neutral site stops this past season in Denver, Detroit, Quebec City and Edmonton each topped 14,000 fans.

The new team will initially go by PWHL Seattle and its colors will be emerald green and cream. The team will play out of the NHL Kraken’s Climate Pledge Arena and practice at the Kraken Community Iceplex. Vancouver also has not announced a nickname yet.

Though all PWHL teams are centrally controlled by the league, Seattle’s expansion bid was led by the Kraken and the Oak View Group, which developed and operates Climate Pledge Arena.

Oak View has longtime ties to women’s hockey, and expressed interest in landing an original six franchise when the league was established in June 2023 by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter, his wife Kimbra, and tennis icon Billie Jean King.

Seattle features a growing youth hockey program, is home to the WNBA’s Storm and NWSL’s Reign, and previously shown support for women’s hockey. In November 2022, Seattle drew a U.S.-Canada Rivalry Series record crowd of 14,551. In January, the PWHL drew a crowd of 12,608 in kicking off its nine-game Takeover Tour of neutral site games in Seattle.

Boston Fleet captain and four-time U.S. Olympian Hilary Knight was a proponent of Seattle in the weeks ahead of her team’s Takeover Tour game against Montreal.

‘‘I have yet to experience another crowd like that,’’ Knight said of the Rivalry Series game. ‘‘Seattle holds a special place in my mind, and that’s why I’m super excited to be able to share that experience with other teammates, whether it’s on the Fleet or on the Montreal team.’’

The PWHL plans to announce the date of an expansion draft and how Vancouver and Seattle will be integrated into its entry draft on June 24 at a later time.

‘‘Seattle is an incredible sports city and we’ve seen firsthand the passion for the women’s game,’’ said Kraken owner Samantha Holloway. “We’re also proud to grow the game of hockey ... and together we’ll continue to inspire the next generation of hockey players and fans alike.’’

In the bigger picture, the PWHL’s accelerated expansion plans coincide with wealth of college talent anticipated to enter the league over the next two years. The league’s growth is also expected to lure more Europeans to North America.

‘‘Upon launch, you’ve got six teams and maybe if you’re not North American, you don’t know really what to expect,’’ PWHL executive vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford said. ‘‘Now I think these players are seeing that this league is here, it’s thriving, it’s growing, and they are going to want to be a part of it.’’

In overseeing the expansion search, Scheer was impressed by the response.

‘‘I feel more encouraged than ever about what our business looks like and what our business can be,’’ she said. ‘‘As we look to expand and move beyond Year 3, we’ll have plenty of suitors along the way as we look to grow.’’

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AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey