« Bogie Thoughts
p.s. I’m also a trusted source for opinions on pro hockey
Welcome to the league, PWHL Las Vegas and PWHL Hamilton!
Check out this recent post from the Minnesota Frost on PWHL expansion increasing next year’s number of teams by three (including Detroit) meaning an expansion draft and free agency losses to fill three new rosters beyond first-year draft players and international signings. Last year we lost five players including Sophie Jaques and Denisa Křížová (re-acquired via trade). And we don’t even know yet if it’s only three expansion teams. The league has had great momentum so far. At a minimum, next season will feature 27% of the league’s players who were either too young or not good enough to make the league this year. Adding one team per year over the next three instead would take that 27% down to 11%, 10%, and 9% each respective year, which is much closer to the number of entry draft players over retiring players you would expect to add.
Sure, only two people liked it, but one of them was actual gold-medal winning Minnesota Wild star Quinn Hughes. The world’s best defenseman loved it even.
Primacy
My big-head syndrome over the Quinn Hughes thing aside, when your business is the best at something, you need to do everything you can to maintain primacy. The PWHL has been the premiere women’s sports league in growth and excitement in its first three seasons. While the WNBA was plagued by labor disputes and controversies involving marquee players in recent years, every time the PWHL visits a neutral city, crowds are huge, and interest after the USA gold in the Olympics only supercharged that.
Facts to back that up
- Girls’ hockey participation is roughly 1% of U.S. girls and 2.5% of Canadian girls—compare that to 7% in basketball and 8% in soccer—yet PWHL attendance is nearly equal to WNBA and NWSL
- The PWHL’s conversion ratio (girls who play the sport per average game attendance) of 23:1, vs. 138:1 in the WNBA and 165:1 in the NWSL
- PWHL attendance jumped from 5,448 to 7,386 to 9,304 in three seasons—a growth curve unmatched by any other women’s league
- Neutral‑site “Takeover Tour” games drew big numbers across 13 cities this season, and home-games sold out at Madison Square Garden and Climate Pledge Arena
- Post‑Olympics merchandise sales spiked 190%, and YouTube viewership rose 77% year‑over‑year
Rapid expansion is risky
The WNBA expanded to 11 teams by its third season, and that era is remembered for low scoring and diluted quality of play—a direct result of expanding faster than the talent pipeline could support. The PWHL risks repeating that mistake with a far smaller player pool.
- NCAA women’s basketball: ~5,000 players
- NCAA women’s hockey: ~1,800 players
- International women’s basketball is big with professional leagues and much greater parity at the Olympic level than hockey where only the U.S. and Canada compete for supremacy
Take it from this hockey-toothed branding guy, PWHL: Slow down! Leave ’em wanting more for a couple years1.
p.p.s. I figured at first that this was just a fake Quinn Hughes like how I got excited when “Susanna Hoffs” followed me once @susanna_hoffs10 not @SusannaHoffs .
p.p.p.s. Within a week, they’ve now announced a fourth team in San Jose for next year! That means next season will feature one-third of the league’s players who were not good enough or not old enough to play this year. That 33% would now drop to down to 11%, 10%, 9%, and just over 8% each respective year adding one team per year instead.
- On the concept of “leave ’em wanting more,” consider these two great songs. The Passenger by Iggy Pop and Motor Away by Guided by Voices. The former clocks in at 4:43 while the latter is only 2:06. I love both songs, but I listen to Motor Away a lot more often than I do the Passenger. It always leaves me wanting more.