By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The line of parents with girls of all ages stretched for a few hundred feet outside T-Mobile Arena where officials were enthusiastic about a new women’s professional hockey team playing at an arena that just hosted a Stanley Cup playoff game less than 24 hours earlier.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League rolled out a Welcome to Las Vegas-style sign for girls to get photo opps and celebrate the announcement of Las Vegas’ newest pro sports team.
PWHL officials are counting on robust girls hockey programs in the Vegas Valley to plant the seed of fan interest in a market that has embraced the NHL Vegas Golden Knights and the area’s most popular women’s sports team, the three-time WNBA champion Las Vegs Aces. Both the VGK and Aces sell out their games. The PWHL attendance is in about the 9,300 range. T-Mobile Arena hs 17,367 fixed seats.
Everyone was in good spirits at today’s announcement, but it will be interesting to see how team attendance works out down the road in a market where team and sports event saturation could become a factor. The women’s hockey team, which will have a green-and-gold branding but is not related to the Athletics, will start in the 2026-27 season.
A year later in 2028, the A’s plan to open a new MLB stadium on the Strip and an NBA team could be playing at the same arena as early as fall 2028. The market is 2.3 million and growing, with as many as 40 million annual visitors. It’s common for some of these visitors to pay tickets for sports events in Las Vegas even if they did not come to Las Vegas specifically for a game.
The new PWHL team has the support of the Golden Knights, which, from the start, have stressed youth hockey to grow the sport and fan base in the Southern Nevada desert.
PSA