The Professional Women’s Hockey League is ditching the traditional playbook for its third season, announcing a complex new media rights deal that prioritizes broad accessibility over a single, exclusive national contract. The league’s strategy, which it calls a matter of "accessibility," is to meet fans across a wide array of platforms.
A patchwork approach: Instead of holding out for a national partner in the U.S., the PWHL is stitching together a patchwork of deals for the 2025-26 season. The plan combines regional sports networks like NESN and MSG Networks with a host of over-the-air station groups, bringing games to an estimated 56 million U.S. households. In Canada, the league is sticking with its national partners, including TSN, CBC, and Prime Video, while bringing Sportsnet back into the fold.
More teams, more screens: The new media deal coincides with the league's own growth, which now includes eight teams after adding franchises in Seattle and Vancouver and an expanded 120-game schedule. And while the PWHL continues its push for a major U.S. national media deal, all games will remain free to stream on the league's YouTube channel—the direct-to-consumer lifeline that fueled its early success.
This strategy is a clear growth play. By maximizing its audience and building local fanbases now, the PWHL is building leverage for a more lucrative, unified national broadcast deal in the future. The league's expansion strategy is already playing out on a local level, with the new Seattle Torrent franchise announcing that all of its games will air on free, over-the-air TV in its home market.
