PWHL to reach US national TV audience with Scripps Sports to broadcast neutral site game in Detroit
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The Professional Women’s Hockey League is coming to a TV set near you in the United States.
The league announced that its neutral-site game in Detroit on March 28 between the New York Sirens and the Montreal Victoire will be the first to receive a national television audience in the United States. The PWHL has selected Scripps Sports to broadcast the game on ION, which reaches 126 million American households, in a one-time deal that could evolve into a long-term partnership.
Scripps already has a history of broadcasting women’s sports as the rights holder for WNBA and NWSL games. It has also aired PWHL games in the past in its NHL TV markets.
The deal also includes Detroit-based Ally Financial, which is the main sponsor of the “Takeover Tour” game, and has played a major role in supporting the NWSL and other women’s sports.
“Being broadcast nationally for the first time is a truly historic moment for our league,” PWHL VP of business Amy Scheer said in a statement. “We continue to fuel the rocket ship that is the PWHL, as we expand the reach and exposure of our league to new fans.”
The broadcast deal comes as women’s hockey enjoys a boost following the US team’s victory led by Hilary Knight at the Milan Cortina Games last month.
And while the PWHL has been in talks with Scripps for several years, the deal to broadcast the game in Detroit came during negotiations in Milan, Scheer told The Associated Press.
“The timing must be right, right?” Scheer said, through discussions he had with Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor in Italy. “It just inspires you to want to do more. I think this is the perfect time for us to have this show on ION, and we’ll see what comes of it. But we’re really proud to partner with both of them to live this moment.”
The latest spike
Lawlor has followed the PWHL closely over its three seasons and has been impressed by the recent focus on women’s hockey. He compared it to the surge the WNBA enjoyed with the arrival of Caitlyn Clark, Angel Reese and Cameron Brink in 2024.
“We’ve been able to identify times when it’s time to build and invest. And then we want to satisfy. There’s such an interest in women’s hockey right now,” Lawlor said. “We want to partner with the league and build on it. And this is the first step in that.”
The PWHL has national broadcast partners in Canada, but is largely limited to local companies that broadcast games in its four US markets. All games are also available in the US on the league’s YouTube channel.
With the eight-team PWHL planning to expand to as many as four teams next season, Scheer considered the possibility of Scripps becoming the league’s US national broadcaster.
“I hope so,” he said. “And I hope that (the Attorney) wants to be a part of that long term. But we will have that conversation when the time is right.”
Scripps is available free-to-air as well as on pay and connected TV, and on ad-supported broadcast platforms. Besides broadcasting WNBA and NWSL games, it also has studio games dedicated to both languages.
The PWHL is already enjoying a post-Olympic surge. The first three games following the Olympic break were sold out, including 17,335 in Seattle to record an attendance record for American women’s hockey. On Sunday, the Sirens recorded a record home attendance of 8,264 fans at the Prudential Center, more than double the team’s average this season.
And the league has already sold out upcoming games at Madison Square Garden and Boston’s TD Garden.
Ally is committed to investing equally in men’s and women’s sports. The NWSL’s support resulted in the league’s 2022 championship game being the first to be broadcast in prime time. In 2024, Ally’s investment led to the US Women’s Open featuring a $12 million purse, the largest in women’s golf history.
“For us, it’s another milestone in what’s been four years, I think, of being the catalyst for the incredible movement that’s happening in women’s sports,” said Ally chief marketing officer Andrea Brimmer.
“I like to think that we haven’t played a role, we’ve helped create a wave, obviously with what’s happening in women’s sports,” Brimmer said. “And I think we’re trying to do the same thing here with hockey.”
