Six Amazing Stats From Record-Breaking PWHL Takeover Tour
The PWHL experimented with a “Takeover Tour” this season, proving to be a rousing success.
Nine neutral-site regular-season games were played from January through March to allow fans to watch the PWHL in places where they do not have a franchise. The Boston Fleet played in three games on the tour and went 2-1. They played at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, KeyBank Center in Buffalo and Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
The PWHL on Friday looked back on the initiative and released the numbers from it. We picked out six that stood out the most.
Attendance records
The nine Takeover Tour stops drew 123,601 fans. The United States professional women’s hockey attendance records were set in Denver (14,018) and Detroit (14,288). It’s important to note that these records are in the history of pro women’s hockey in the United States. Fans showed up strong and gave the PWHL an idea of where potential expansion teams could thrive.
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Vancouver expansion?
The Canadian teams draw the highest number of people on average in the PWHL, and the Vancouver Takeover Tour game drew the highest attendance with 19,038 fans. It’s ambitious to assume that many fans would attend an average PWHL game. However, if there is an expansion team, Vancouver seems like the favorite to land one, based on the attendance from the Takeover Tour.
First-time fans
PWHL attendance is up after its inaugural season, and the Takeover Tour drew many first-time fans of the league. An estimated 80% of Takeover Tour attendees experienced their first-ever PWHL game, and up to 78% of attendees were visiting the host venue for the first time. Women’s hockey fans were going to flock to the PWHL, but the ability to draw new fans and grow communities will help the league thrive for years to come.
Community growth
One of the big messages the PWHL sends is that it wants to be the home for the next generation of women’s hockey players. That impact was seen when 945 players participated in clinics and meet-and-greets with PWHL athletes across all nine stops on the Takeover Tour. Some women’s hockey players noted there were not many opportunities to learn from the best players or a place for them when they were younger. The clinics that the teams host are an important part of growing the game and fostering the next generation.
That’s a lot of pucks
The PWHL reported that 1,800 Takeover Tour pucks were produced for warmups and game action. Not much else to say, just a staggering number you don’t think about too often.
Fueling up
We saved the best for last. According to the PWHL, players fueled up with 648 Uncrustables (a player favorite), 864 applesauce pouches (a go-to for players between periods), 1,080 packs of gummy snacks, and 1,296 bottles of Gatorade (Cool Blue was the most popular flavor). According to The Athletic’s Jayson Jenks, the Denver Broncos ate the most Uncrustables a week (700). Hockey and football are different sports, but we sure would love to know which team eats the most Uncrustables and applesauce pouches a week.
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