PWHL Expands to Las Vegas and Ontario with New Teams for 2026

The PWHL is charging ahead with its expansion plans, announcing the addition of two new teams for the 2026-2027 season. The league revealed on Wednesday that Las Vegas and Hamilton, Ontario, will welcome franchises that are set to take the ice in just a few years.

The Las Vegas team will call the T-Mobile Arena home, while the Hamilton franchise is slated to play at TD Coliseum. Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations, expressed excitement about the Hamilton team’s potential, highlighting the region’s deep ties to girls’ and women’s hockey. “Hamilton and its surrounding communities have long been central to the growth of girls’ and women’s hockey, producing generations of talented players and passionate fans,” Hefford stated. “The response we saw during our Takeover Tour game at TD Coliseum made it clear that fans in the region are ready to rally around a team of their own.”

Las Vegas is also poised for a warm welcome of its own. As the city has seen a remarkable growth in youth hockey participation and a strong fanbase for the NHL’s Golden Knights and the WNBA’s Aces, the PWHL is confident that the community is ready for professional women’s hockey. Amy Scheer, executive vice president of business operations for the PWHL, noted, “While professional women’s hockey may be new to the market, we know Las Vegas is ready to welcome and champion a PWHL team of its own.”

This announcement continues a trend of significant growth for the PWHL, which recently added a franchise in Detroit. With these new teams, the league will expand from eight to eleven franchises by the start of next season. Fans can expect further details regarding the expansion process, including information on roster-building and the integration of these new teams into the upcoming 2026 PWHL Draft, to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.