With new season on the horizon, PWHL evaluating more than 25 expansion proposals
CBC
The PWHL has received more than 25 proposals for expansion, as the league looks at the possibility of adding two teams as early as next season.
The six-team league is in the process of issuing requests for proposals, both for markets the league has targeted and others where groups have approached the PWHL to express interest in having a team, according to the PWHL's senior vice president of business operations, Amy Scheer.
The level of interest since the league opened to expansion proposals less than a month ago has kept Scheer busy booking meetings with interested groups.
"We need to do a lot of learning about the markets and how we would be supported there, and what does the model look like," she said in an interview with CBC Sports. "Our fact-finding mission is fun, and we'll continue until we feel we've got all the information we need."
The PWHL will launch its second season on Saturday with the Toronto Sceptres hosting the Boston Fleet at 2 p.m. ET at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The game will be streamed on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem, and CBC Sports App.
It will be the first of 90 games this season, including 17 Saturday games that will be broadcast by CBC Sports.
But the possibility of buying into the league has come up often in the conversations Scheer has been having.
"They've all asked, will you get to that point where we can buy the team or we can invest in the league?" Scheer said. "That's for the Walter Group to decide. For now, our marching orders are to go and explore what expansion could look like. I don't know what the future holds."
The first season saw the league break attendance records in both Canada and the U.S., en route to handing out the first Walter Cup championship trophy to the Minnesota Frost in May.
At the same time, interest in women's sport across the globe has soared, as have valuations of professional women's sport franchises in North America.
While expansion seems certain at some point, next season isn't set in stone at this point.
"We just don't know until we have the conversation and really learn more about the markets that are interested," Jayna Hefford, the league's senior vice president of hockey operations, told CBC Sports.
WATCH | A storyline for each of the 6 Canadian PWHL teams, ahead of the regular season:
The league will play nine games in neutral sites across North America this season, all of which could be test runs for the viability and interest in women's hockey in those cities.
