A Professional Women’s Hockey League game between Toronto and Montreal has, once again, broken the all-time attendance record for a women’s hockey game, just two months after first setting the new high.
The league has broken several attendance records in its inaugural season: first for the most fans at a professional women’s hockey game in Ottawa (8,318) on Jan. 2 and then four days later in Minnesota (13,316).
On Feb. 16, the league drew 19,285 fans to a game between Toronto and Montreal at Scotiabank Arena — home of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs — which became the largest crowd to watch women’s hockey ever, including at the Olympics, world championships and the NCAA.
GO DEEPER
PWHL breaks women’s hockey all-time attendance record
Saturday afternoon’s crowd of 21,105 at the Bell Centre — home of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens — sets a new mark.
“There are a lot of people who didn’t even get tickets, so 21,000 wasn’t even enough,” Montreal goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens said at a news conference Friday. “People come, they bring friends, they look for more tickets. It says a lot about the talent on the ice, the level of play, the organizations, the media coverage.
“When we put all those things together, that’s what makes this possible. We saw it with March Madness and women’s basketball — when we put it on TV, people watch, and I think women’s sports right now is growing at an incredible rate.”
Saturday’s game wasn’t originally scheduled to be played at the Bell Centre, but after the success of the game at Scotiabank Arena and the consistent sellouts of PWHL Montreal’s primary and secondary arenas — the 4,000-capacity Verdun Auditorium and 10,000-seat Place Bell in Laval, Que. — the league felt comfortable moving a game into the largest capacity arena in the NHL.
“It’s nice to have a few months of the season under your belt to be able to make a decision based on what you’ve seen,” said Amy Scheer, the senior vice president of business operations for the PWHL. “The Montreal fans were amazing. We sold out in no time at all.”
Scheer said that after the Scotiabank Arena game, the league spoke with the Montreal team and the Canadiens to see if a game at the Bell Centre could be possible. Things moved quickly and the league “jumped at the opportunity” for a Saturday afternoon game in Montreal.
“They could not make us feel more welcome (in the building),” Scheer said about working with the NHL club. “They’ve been unbelievable partners for us. They want to help advance women’s hockey, they support the sport through their foundation. I think it’s going to be a very fruitful relationship.”
The sellout is just the latest proof of concept of the audience for professional women’s hockey — and the growth in the game over the last several years. In 2016, the Bell Centre hosted a CWHL game between the now-defunct Montreal and Calgary franchises. Marie-Philip Poulin, then 25 years old, scored the game-winning goal, as she typically does. Fewer than 6,000 fans were in attendance.
“It was surreal,” Poulin said about playing at the Bell Centre for the first time. “Obviously, you jump on that ice, you see empty seats, but you hoped that one day it would be packed.”
And on Saturday it was.
WHAT AN OVATION FOR MPP! 👏
Marie-Philip Poulin is introduced in Montreal at the Bell Centre as today’s ‘Duel at the Top’ is expected to set a world record for attendance at a women’s hockey game
Watch @PWHL_Toronto vs. @PWHL_Montreal LIVE on @cbcsports pic.twitter.com/UnhPpPbfIP
— CBC Sports (@cbcsports) April 20, 2024
Now, for the PWHL to break this current record, it will likely need to head outdoors. Could that be in the cards?
“We’re not just going to say hey let’s play at X stadium and see what we do,” said Scheer. “I think it would be a measured approach and making sure that if we do it that we choose a location where we know we can be successful. Of course, it’s possible. When and where TBD.”
Required reading
(Photo: David Kirouac / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
