Despite small Takeover Tour crowd, PWHL still sees Chicago as attractive market
The announced crowd of 7,238 for Sunday’s Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Takeover Tour game at Allstate Arena was the smallest so far for a tour match.
That does not mean Chicago hurt itself in the race for an expansion team in the rapidly growing league.
“Chicago’s an attractive market to us. I thought today was a successful day for the league here,” Jayna Hefford, the league’s executive vice president of hockey operations, told the Sun-Times. “[We’ll] continue to learn more about the market and see if it could be a potential market for us.”
On the ice, the Ottawa Charge defeated the Minnesota Frost 3-2 in overtime. Ottawa’s Sarah Wozniewicz scored the winner at 3:55 of the extra period and goalie Gwyneth Philips stopped 41 shots to give the Charge the victory in an entertaining rematch of last season’s PWHL championship series won by Minnesota.
“You just saw what the PWHL’s all about,” Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod said. “That’s every game.”
Though the event showcased the PWHL’s elite talent, the attendance fell short of other Tour events.
Over nine Takeover Tour games last season, the PWHL averaged an announced crowd of 13,733 customers, headlined by Edmonton, Quebec City and Vancouver all drawing over 17,000 per event. The six US markets that had matches during the 2024-25 slate of neutral-site regular season games (Buffalo, Denver, Detroit, Raleigh, Seattle, St. Louis) drew an average of 11,454, including four exceeding 10,000 fans.
To kick off this season’s slate of 16 tour games, the match Wednesday in Halifax attracted 10,438. Unlike last season when the first games were in January, the PWHL began this season’s tour in December.
Whatever the reasons, it was clear before Sunday’s 1 p.m. faceoff that the gathering in Rosemont would not reach five digits.
“Every market’s a bit unique and we try to learn everywhere we go about the market,” Hefford said. “When you come into a market for the first time you have to figure it out. It’s hard to compare market to market but based on the work we’ve done here, we thought it was a good crowd today.”
Hefford added that tour attendance is just one of numerous metrics the league uses to evaluate expansion markets. A four-time Olympic gold medalist with Canada, Hefford said other factors include grassroots hockey, available venues, partners in the market and economic opportunities.
The fans at Sunday’s game made their voices heard.
Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, a Palos Heights native and Olympic gold medalist, received the loudest applause during the pregame introductions. She and Ottawa’s Taylor House (from Joliet) were enthusiastically cheered when they took the ceremonial opening faceoff.
Following the game, Coyne Schofield said there were over 100 people waiting to greet her, something that “meant a lot” to her. During her glittering career, Coyne Schofield’s had limited chances to play close to home, and she relished the opportunity and reaction Sunday.
“I definitely felt love today,” Coyne Schofield said. “Just grateful, honored.”
Chicago fans will get another chance to display their affection toward the PWHL on March 25 when the New York Sirens face the Seattle Torrent in Rosemont. By then, the PWHL will have had a strong presence in the Winter Olympics, something that could boost the league.
The PWHL encore will be a second chance for the league to learn about the Chicago market. PWHL executives will again track social engagement and try to gauge the excitement around that event and for the league.
“It will be two different teams, so we’ll be curious to see how the fans show up with two different teams and take it as additional learnings,” Hefford said.