New York’s professional women’s hockey team was playing in front of thousands of empty seats on Long Island just two years ago.

But last weekend, the New York Sirens sold out Madison Square Garden, setting a U.S. attendance record as 18,006 fans packed the arena to watch a 2-1 shootout win against the Seattle Torrent.

The surge in interest around the Sirens comes amid a broader rise in attention to women’s sports. Viewership has climbed in recent years, driven partly by younger fans and new leagues launching across the country, including the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

Saturday’s game was one of the most attended in league history — a sharp contrast from the team’s early days, when New York area crowds sometimes numbered in the low thousands or less.

“It’s incredible to see the growth and I think that there’s a lot of reasons for it,” Sirens head coach Greg Fargo said in an interview. “There have been a lot of people over the years who believed that a night like Saturday night was possible, and I think that this just validates the belief that everybody had in our game for a long, long time.”

Fargo pointed in part to Team USA’s gold medal in women’s hockey at the Milan Olympics, as well as Madison Square Garden’s draw compared with the team’s usual home venue at Newark’s Prudential Center.

“To play at MSG in front of an incredible crowd that night, it brought out the best of our team,” he said. “We not only wanted to perform for ourselves at such an important game, but we wanted to showcase our game so that hopefully that fanbase that was there on Saturday night.”

The Sirens are scheduled to return to Newark to face the Toronto Sceptres on April 15, offering another chance for local fans to see the team before the regular season ends.

“It doesn’t matter where they put us, we’re going to compete for our fans, whether it’s 18,000 or 3,000 people with Sirens gear on,” Fargo added. “We want to show them and do them proud every chance that we get.”

The full PWHL schedule is available on the league’s website.

‘We are literally here witnessing history’

Fans who attended the game described an electric atmosphere inside the sold-out arena, with crowds dancing, cheering and appearing on the jumbotron.

“It was just so lively and so supportive and so positive — I think everyone recognized that this was a historic moment,” said Michael Cullen, who attended Saturday’s game with a group of friends. “I think during the game, they even said it 1,000 times, ‘We are literally here witnessing history.’”

Cullen, who grew up in Ottawa, moved to New York several years ago to pursue a doctoral degree at Columbia University. He is a longtime hockey fan and a goalie in a men’s intramural league at Chelsea Piers.

Saturday marked his second Sirens game and he said he plans to return.

“The crowd was unbelievable: bedazzled jerseys, people from all walks of life,” he said. “It was really special to be there for sure.”

For Nicki Diacik, the game at Madison Square Garden was her first hockey experience. She attended with a group from a local queer line dancing community.

Diacik described long concession lines and a packed arena, with fans celebrating on the jumbotron.

“Women and queer people are trying to support spaces where people in our communities feel empowered,” Diacik said. “I love going to women’s sports games, because it’s where queer women tend to be more focused, which I think is really lovely. I want these athletes to get the same recognition and attention as the men’s sports players.”

The Sirens, who play primarily at Newark’s Prudential Center, are part of a broader surge in women’s sports across the New York area.

The New York Liberty, who play at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, won the franchise’s first WNBA championship in 2024.

And even fans who cannot attend games in person are showing support, as women’s sports bars continue to open across the city.