{"id":415855,"date":"2026-01-19T00:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T00:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/415855\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T00:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T00:24:08","slug":"pwhl-game-in-dc-breaks-us-attendance-record-for-a-professional-womens-hockey-game-with-17228-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/415855\/","title":{"rendered":"PWHL game in DC breaks US attendance record for a professional women\u2019s hockey game with 17,228 fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, DC \u2014 Women\u2019s hockey fans turned out in droves this weekend for the PWHL\u2019s first game in DC.<\/p>\n

The Montreal Victoire and New York Sirens played a packed house at Capital One Arena on Sunday, setting a new attendance record for a pro women\u2019s hockey game in the United States. The game drew a total of 17,228 fans, beating the previous record<\/a> of 16,014 set at Seattle\u2019s Climate Pledge Arena in November.<\/p>\n

Announcement of US attendance record<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty special moment, for sure,\u201d said Victoire forward Hayley Scamurra, daughter of Capitals alumnus Peter Scamurra. \u201cI knew they would show out, but I think this exceeded everyone\u2019s expectations. To beat the U.S. record as much as they did is just incredible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think also their energy that they brought, that was the loudest they\u2019ve ever been. I heard people at the Caps say that was the last they\u2019ve been all season. So I think it\u2019s a testament to the people we have in our organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Capital\ud83d\udcf8: Katie Adler\/RMNB<\/p>\n

Montreal\u2019s Bell Centre holds the worldwide women\u2019s hockey attendance record, with 21,105 fans in the building for a game between the PWHL\u2019s Toronto and Montreal in April 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Merchandise booths at Capital One Arena sold out nearly immediately on Sunday, with lines wrapping around the arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re incredibly proud to see Capital One Arena serve as the stage for another historic moment with today\u2019s record-setting PWHL game,\u201d Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said in a statement. \u201c\u2026[T]he momentum we\u2019re seeing today reflects both the excellence of the athletes and the growing demand from fans to experience women\u2019s sports at the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professional women\u2019s hockey last came to the DC area in 2023, when the Professional Women\u2019s Hockey Players Association hosted a stop of its Dream Gap Tour at MedStar Capitals Iceplex \u2014 a rink with a capacity of approximately 1,200. Three years later, attendance has grown more than tenfold.<\/p>\n

Scamurra, who also played in the Dream Gap Tour, reflected on the difference between that 2023 event and what the PWHL has done this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just incredible,\u201d she said Saturday. \u201cThe stands were filled then, but to have that full circle moment is really incredible, to now play professional hockey where the men play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s game is part of the PWHL\u2019s 2025-26 Takeover Tour, which includes 16 neutral-site games in 11 cities across the US and Canada.<\/p>\n

After beginning play in 2024 with six teams, the PWHL expanded to Seattle and Vancouver this season, with two or four more teams to come<\/a> in 2026-27. Data from the Takeover Tour will help the league<\/a> evaluate potential expansion sites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON, DC \u2014 Women\u2019s hockey fans turned out in droves this weekend for the PWHL\u2019s first game in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-415855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}