{"id":186955,"date":"2026-04-06T10:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/186955\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T10:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:34:11","slug":"can-the-pwhl-succeed-in-new-york-after-years-of-struggles-on-and-off-the-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/186955\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the PWHL succeed in New York after years of struggles on and off the ice?"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 The night before taking the ice Saturday at Madison Square Garden, Seattle Torrent captain Hilary Knight found herself looking at photos from 2021, her most recent time playing in the building. She was playing for Team Minnesota in the Dream Gap Tour at the time, and fans were not allowed at the game due to COVID-19 restrictions. Aside from the players on the ice, the building was practically empty.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s Torrent-New York Sirens game couldn\u2019t have been more different. Madison Square Garden welcomed 18,006 fans, a U.S. women\u2019s hockey attendance record. Torrent forward Alex Carpenter called the atmosphere electric; Sirens star Sarah Fillier had goosebumps as she heard her team\u2019s fans screaming mid-national anthem. Knight took a moment to look at the bicycle wheel ceiling and soak in where she was.<\/p>\n

Five years after her game in the fanless arena, she was thrilled with the support in a city she called \u201ccentral to sports.\u201d But she wasn\u2019t surprised.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a testament to the caliber of player that we have, our fan base, the product that we put together, the work that we do when the lights aren\u2019t bright,\u201d she said. \u201cTo finally have this moment \u2014 and I hope it\u2019s not (one) moment; I hope we\u2019re back here \u2014 was truly incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The game was a massive success, one that marked another milestone for the PWHL\u2019s post-Olympic boom and also represented a major step for a market in which the league is trying to gain more of a foothold. Over three seasons, since the PWHL\u2019s inception in January 2024, the Sirens have had the league\u2019s lowest average attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping it will bring more engagement and more attendance next season at more of their regular home games, too,\u201d Sirens fan Alex Gaeta said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Sirens fan Alex Gaeta, a sled hockey player, attended the game with her service dog, Dixie, who is a member of the Sirens Kids Club. (Peter Baugh \/ The Athletic)<\/p>\n

The crowd \u2014 which included tennis legend Billie Jean King, LSU basketball star Flau\u2019jae Johnson, TV host Robin Roberts and New York Rangers captain J.T. Miller, who said the game was \u201clike the Super Bowl\u201d for his 7-year-old daughter, Scottlyn \u2014 got to see a dramatic show. The team\u2019s signature \u201cwee-woo, wee-woo\u201d chants filled the building throughout the game, and Fillier tied the game with 3:35 remaining to force overtime. The game went to a shootout, and goalie Kayle Osborne made the game-sealing save in the fifth round. She kneed the air and roared with excitement as her teammates left the bench to mob her. The crowd delivered a worthy pop.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see how engaged the fan base was tonight, how excited they were about women\u2019s hockey here,\u201d Sirens coach Greg Fargo said. \u201cFor our group to be able to experience what they experienced tonight and also come up with the result that we wanted, I don\u2019t think this night could\u2019ve gone much better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of the PWHL\u2019s first season in January 2024, Stan Kasten was emphatic that the league needed to have a presence in New York.<\/p>\n

Kasten, the veteran sports executive and president of the Los Angeles Dodgers, was vital in the launch of the PWHL and serves as an advisor to Mark Walter, the billionaire owner of the Dodgers and the PWHL.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe obviously want to be in New York,\u201d Kasten, who sits on the PWHL advisory board, said at the start of the inaugural season. \u201cIf you\u2019re a league at all you have to be in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PWHL\u2019s inaugural season \u2014 which featured teams in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, Minnesota and New York \u2014 was largely heralded as a success. Millions of viewers tuned in for games, attendance records were repeatedly set and broken, and demand for tickets in some markets was so high that teams had to move to bigger venues for Year 2.<\/p>\n

The league\u2019s New York franchise, however, fell short of expectations.<\/p>\n

The team played in three arenas in three different states \u2014 UBS Arena in Elmont, New York; Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Conn.; and Prudential Center in Newark, N.J \u2014 and struggled to consistently draw fans, finishing with the worst attendance in the league. One game in Bridgeport had only 728 fans, the PWHL\u2019s only game ever with fewer than 1,000 in attendance. The arena situation, Kasten later said, \u201cwasn\u2019t ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite having a roster with elite talent, including Olympic gold medalists such as American forward Alex Carpenter and Canadian defender Ella Shelton, New York struggled on the ice as well. At one point during the 2024 season, New York went over two months without a regulation win.<\/p>\n

An April 2024 story in The New York Times shed some light on the fractured dynamics of the team. According to the story<\/a>, during that losing streak, general manager Pascal Daoust addressed the team following a practice, saying that \u201cwhile the players were all great friends and good people, they were not always being great teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madison Packer, a veteran player who was among the leading scorers in the history of the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federation, a precursor to the PWHL, had a more scathing criticism after a loss, saying the players could not complain about attendance if they continued to lose.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe finger-pointing, the blaming, what we are doing right now is just the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and over again,\u201d she said. \u201cCoaches should coach and players should play and players shouldn\u2019t have coaching abilities. In any professional league I\u2019ve ever been a part of, I\u2019ve never seen anything like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n The PWHL has leveraged the Sirens\u2019 star-laden roster in advertisements this season. (Courtesy of the PWHL)<\/p>\n

At the end of the season, New York and its head coach Howie Draper mutually agreed to part ways. Heading into Year 2, the team hired Fargo \u2014 who turned the Colgate women\u2019s hockey team into a contender in the NCAA \u2014 and selected Fillier with the No. 1 pick in the PWHL Draft. The franchise also moved full-time to the Prudential Center, the home of the NHL\u2019s New Jersey Devils and a 30-minute commute from Manhattan, and unveiled its official New York Sirens name and branding after playing their inaugural season with only geographic monikers.<\/p>\n

Chants of \u201cwee-woo\u201d became a signature goal celebration for the Sirens faithful. Attendance increased slightly too, but the team once again struggled on the ice and was awarded a second straight No. 1 pick in the 2025 PWHL Draft. The Sirens selected Czech star Krist\u00fdna Kaltounkov\u00e1 \u2014 who did not play on Saturday due to injury \u2014 and 2025 Patty Kazmaier Award winner Casey O\u2019Brien third overall.<\/p>\n

According to Amy Scheer, the PWHL\u2019s executive vice president of business operations, the real work in attracting new fans to the Sirens franchise began ahead of the 2025-26 season. The inaugural year for New York, Scheer said, was really like \u201cyear zero,\u201d as the team juggled playing in three different venues. Last season was spent establishing a foundation and getting a broader understanding of being in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis area is really tough, there\u2019s so much to do, there\u2019s much competition, there is so much noise,\u201d Scheer said. \u201cWe learned a lot in year two. And in year three, we put forth a lot more effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strategy has been pretty simple: increase visibility for the team and players in New York and New Jersey to hopefully build the audience.<\/p>\n

This season, the league has leveraged the Sirens\u2019 now star-laden roster, putting Fillier, Kaltounkov\u00e1 and O\u2019Brien on various billboards around New Jersey, advertisements in subway and train stations, and even on subway trains themselves. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a wonderful lineup of really young players in this market and wanted to put them out there,\u201d Scheer explained.<\/p>\n

My train home feels particularly fitting tonight. #PWHL<\/a> #NYSirens<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/QtkwmeKyRW<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jess (@JessAmatoWrites) April 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The team has built a partnership with Gotham FC, the NWSL franchise that also plays in New Jersey, and other community organizations. The league has hired more staff in New York to sell tickets and, with more experience since the PWHL\u2019s launch in January 2024, have simply \u201cdone a better job running the team,\u201d Scheer said.<\/p>\n

And they\u2019re seeing results.<\/p>\n

Beyond Saturday\u2019s monumental sell-out at the Garden, over 41,000 fans have attended a Sirens game at their primary home venue this season, more than each of the team\u2019s previous two seasons in fewer home games to date (11). The team also played in front of their largest home crowd ever, with 8,264 fans at Prudential on March 8, and, according to Scheer, have seen a 36 percent increase in ticket sales year-over-year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the kind of positive progress the league is looking for in New York \u2014 but it\u2019s not yet a finished project. The New York metropolitan area is a highly competitive sports market with nine big four professional sports franchises, as well as MLS, WNBA and NWSL teams. Growing a consistent fan base can be a challenge. Scheer, who spent 10 years with the WNBA\u2019s New York Liberty, knows that well.<\/p>\n

In May, the Liberty franchise was valued at a record $450 million<\/a>. But first, the team bounced around the Metro area playing at Madison Square Garden, the Prudential Center and a few dark years at a community center in White Plains before being purchased by Clara Wu Tsai and her husband, Joe Tsai, finding a home at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re new here, you\u2019ve got your work cut out for you,\u201d Scheer said. \u201cNew York is the best place on earth and we will make it work here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ninety minutes before Saturday\u2019s puck drop, around 50 reporters, camera operators and league employees crammed into the Madison Square Garden media room for Kasten and tennis legend Billie Jean King\u2019s pregame press conference. The room grew so crowded that staffers had to bring in additional chairs.<\/p>\n

Wearing a black hoodie with a purple PWHL logo, King offered overarching thoughts on the league \u2014 \u201c(the players) want to do it for the future generations\u201d \u2014 as well as a tangent about how she wanted to play her famous match against Bobby Riggs at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

She also gave an honest assessment of where the PWHL stands in regards to its biggest city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be in New York,\u201d she said, echoing Kasten\u2019s previous 2024 statement. \u201cDoes it take longer in New York? Absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Players and fans have both experienced that. The Madison Square Garden game represented a step, but it also juxtaposed typical Sirens games at the Prudential Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo recently we were at games in Prudential and they didn\u2019t have all the concessions open,\u201d said Sirens fan Anna Lunder, who watched from the upper level Saturday. \u201cIt is very cool to have all the levels (full) here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Osborne: \u201cFor us to have one of the lowest (attendance) fan bases at Pru and play in front of those fans all year, then come here and have them sell out for us is something so special.\u201d<\/p>\n

A potential future face of the league watched it all play out. The league invited Caroline Harvey \u2014 the presumed No. 1 pick in the PWHL Draft and fresh off an Olympic gold, NCAA championship and Patty Kazmaier Award win \u2014 to the game, and she told reporters she \u201cwouldn\u2019t miss it for the world.\u201d She wasn\u2019t on the ice as a player, but she got chills looking around the sold-out crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I caught myself tearing up,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Wow, I dreamed of these moments as a little girl.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked after the game to name a venue he\u2019d want his team to play in next, Fargo said, \u201cI\u2019d love to play as many games right back here as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRetweet!\u201d chimed in Osborne, who was sitting next to him.<\/p>\n

Kasten said Madison Square Garden is the only suitable building in the New York City limits for the league, but \u201cit\u2019s booked all the time\u201d for the Rangers (NHL), New York Knicks (NBA), concerts and other events. Scheer told The Athletic that \u201ceverything is on the table\u201d in terms of where the team plays next season. A full-time move to Madison Square Garden seems unlikely, but perhaps there\u2019s room for more nights like Saturday.<\/p>\n

Gaeta called the night significant.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to point to \u2018the PWHL sold out Madison Square Garden\u2019 hopefully is going to make people realize that women\u2019s sports are financially viable,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople are excited about it. People want to get engaged with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you have to take it in and enjoy the moment,\u201d Fillier added. \u201cIt\u2019s bigger than the game happening.\u201d<\/p>\n