How the PWHL Continues to Grow and Change the Game

The Olympic tournament has wrapped and the woman are headed home, this year saw major growth across the sport, filled with history-making moments. 

The growth of the game has also impacted how fans engage and watch the Olympics, while in previous years, fans typically stuck to their home countries for viewing and cheering, this year that changed. While the majority of fans still root for their home country over everyone else, while their team isn’t playing, they’re supporting their favorite players from the PWHL and NCAA, creating a unique viewing experience in the first Olympics since the PWHL was created. 

After the Gold Medal Game, one Facebook user said, “This time I wasn’t just rooting for the USA, I was also rooting for Canada,” adding, “I felt hurt for them because I have grown to love their play, their personality, their story. The PWHL has allowed me to view and feel all sides of winning, losing, and heartbreak.”

With the women’s game gaining more coverage around the world from the NCAA, SDHL, and PWHL, the game has continued to grow. This growth was seen from emerging countries like Italy and Germany, whose major highlights of the tournament are in the NCAA or first year pro’s like Nina Jobst-Smith. Jobst-Smith grew up in Vancouver but has German roots.

In order to qualify for an Olympic National Team, you must be a citizen of the country you are representing and “Female players need to have participated on a consistent basis for at least one hockey season and have been member of the new national association for at least 8 consecutive months (240 days) during that period,” according to the IIHF rules. 

As the talent pools continue to grow and limited sports on the roster, leaning on roots in other countries, in order to make a National Team will most likely grow. We’ve already seen this with a few Canadian players representing other teams, such as Nina Jobst-Smith, or Laura Fortino who had previously represented Canada, last in the 2010 Games, switching to represent Italy. 

The growth on the National stage is also going to translate back to the PWHL, with the Gold Medal Game, being the most watched women’s hockey game bringing in 7.7 million viewers. The game between Canada and the USA featured 39 PWHL players, bringing attention back to the league as both sides made history in the latest chapter of their rivalry. 

Overall, this year’s tournament was far more competitive than we’ve seen and this is only going to grow as new talent enters the pipeline. With the growth of the PWHL more and more girls are entering youth hockey, expanding the future talent pool.

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