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PWHL Las Vegas Announcement Could Come Wednesday

โ€ขYahoo Sports

The PWHL is expected to announce Las Vegas as the league's 10th franchise as early as Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.

The PWHL is soon to be a ten team league as it's expected the league will announce expansion to Las Vegas as early as Wednesday. Similar to the PWHL Detroit announcement, Las Vegas has started by inviting local girls hockey organizations to attend an event scheduled for Wednesday at 12:30pm at T-Mobile Arena. T-Mobile Arena is home to the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights.

Since the PWHL's inception, the Golden Knights have been vocally in support of bringing a PWHL team to the market. That hope was believed to be farther in the future as Vegas wanted, but did not receive a PWHL Takeover Tour game this season. The market however, emerged as a darkhorse later in the expansion process alongside other non-Takeover Tour markets including San Jose.

Vegas this year brought WickFest, Hayley Wickenheiser's now famous girls hockey festival, to the United States for the first time. WickFest has already announced they'll be returning to Vegas in late 2026 for a second event. The December date of the event could coincide with the start of the 2026-27 PWHL season.

Chris Ilitch discusses PWHL expansion to Detroit. Vegas Golden Knights Director, Youth Hockey Programs & Fan Development, Sheri Hudspeth spoke to The Hockey News about the importance of growing visibility for girls hockey in Vegas referencing WickFest. With the organization set to help usher in a PWHL franchise however, the sentiment rings true.