After a fantastic inaugural season in 2024, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (“PWHL”) is looking to expand and add more franchises for the 2025-26 season. [1] To date, the league consists of six teams: the Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, and Toronto Sceptres. [2] Each PWHL team has 23 players on its active roster making a total of approximately 138 active players. [3]
The PWHL’s short-term goal is to add two teams for the 2025-26 season. [4] The issue is that the league needs to find two candidates that will be able to host a PWHL team. [5] The league is not concerned about the geographical location of these new teams; instead, it’s focus is on growing the game. [6] There are only six teams that hold 23 roster spots, and every year, there are many young players from the NCAA and Europe looking to compete in the PWHL. [7] Adding two more franchises would not only expand the talent pool but also generate more revenue for the league and its players. [8]
A key concern about adding two new franchises is that “expansion does not appear in the PWHL/PWHLPA collective bargaining agreement.” [9] Since there is nothing in the PWHL’s collective bargaining agreement about expansion, teams and players have no clue what to expect. [10] Unlike other leagues, such as the WNBA, which expressly address expansion in their collective bargaining agreements, there is nothing in the PWHL that covers “compensation or contract rights teams and players can expect.” [11]
Another important aspect of adding a new franchise is ensuring that the team’s name and logo do not have any trademark or copyright issues. When introducing a new franchise, the team will soon begin to release merchandise, logos, and player endorsements. [12] The PWHL must make sure that it does not infringe on pre-existing trademarks or become involved in any unauthorized use of copyrighted content. [13]
More recently, in the NHL, the Utah Hockey Club petitioned the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) to be called the Utah Yetis. [14] Ultimately, the USPTO denied the petition because of the “likelihood of confusion” with the “Yeti Cooler Company.” [15] The PWHL must keep in mind that, although “different companies in different fields can use the same name,” the league will have to make sure that the names and logos of the new franchises comply with USPTO regulations. [16]
Moreover, the league is not limited to hosting games in the six cities where its teams are based. The league holds neutral site games in other major cities such as Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. [17] These games are all expected to sell out and, more importantly, the games will be hosted in their respective NHL arenas. [18]
It will be interesting to see if Detroit is one of the two cities that will be included in the expansion, as it is widely regarded as a “hockey town” and home to the NHL Red Wings. [19] Additionally, the University of Michigan and Michigan State do not have women’s varsity hockey programs. [20] Given the absence of women’s hockey at the collegiate level in Michigan, I wonder if the PWHL will take aggressive steps to franchise in Detroit. As of now the league is going to continue to have neutral site games and see which two cities are the perfect fit.
[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Professional-Womens-Hockey-League
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] https://apnews.com/article/womens-hockey-pwhl-expansion-20e84fec388fd3b29a0c54ee0c5c7a33
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/opinion-allowing-pwhl-trade-deadline-170000687.html
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[13] Id.
[15] Id.
[16] Id.
[17] https://apnews.com/article/pwhl-womens-hockey-neutral-sites-501bad865d6f0d7c3def06025c3c5d46
[18] Id.
[19] Id.
[20] Id.
[21] Photo: https://apnews.com/article/womens-hockey-pwhl-nicknames-logos-71c30c658593267039b3c8c4ef23d7ef
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