Women's pro hockey sold out Madison Square Garden. Can it find a permanent home in NYC?
Does New York City have room for a women's hockey team?
On Saturday night, the New York Sirens outlasted the Seattle Torrent to win 2-1 in a shootout in front of a sell-out crowd at Madison Square Garden. It was the first Professional Women’s Hockey League game in front of fans at the World’s Most Famous Arena and the announced crowd of 18,006 set a record for arena attendance at a U.S. women’s hockey game.
Launched in 2023 (with games starting in January 2024) the PWHL hosts eight franchises across the United States and Canada. It’s a successor to similar leagues, coming in the aftermath of the collapse of the Canadian Women's Hockey League and Premier Hockey Federation, and a labor dispute with the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association over the financial stability of a professional women’s hockey league in North America. The Sirens are one of the PWHL’s original six franchises, playing their home games in Newark’s Prudential Center since 2024.
But across the river in Newark, the Sirens routinely struggle to draw a sizable crowd. Just last Wednesday New York announced an attendance of just 4,265, a little over a quarter of the arena’s total capacity of 16,514. Compared to other PWHL franchises, the Sirens lag behind attendance standards. Elsewhere in the league that same Wednesday night, the Montréal Victoire hosted 9,176 fans for their matchup with the Vancouver Goldeneyes while the game between the Toronto Sceptres and Ottawa Charge at neutral Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary saw more than 16,000 fans.
And it’s not just the Canadian franchises either, Minnesota routinely pulls in close to or more than 10,000 fans to home games, while at their last home game – a Tuesday, March 24th clash with Vancouver – the Boston Fleet filled their stadium to nearly 70 percent of capacity. The league has seen steady growth over the past three seasons, with a bump in viewership coming following the 2026 Winter Olympics. Merchandise sales are up, viewership is up, and the league is consistently setting attendance records. They also appear to have the financial stability for the longhaul, according to PWHL Advisory Board Member Stan Kasten, “we’re still in the red again, but that’s what we planned for, and the gap is closing.”
So why is it that in the PWHL’s largest market, the Sirens can’t seem to fill their own arena? For Erica Phillips of Orange County, New York the answer is simple.
“It’s New Jersey,” she said.
