PWHL Minnesota attracts 6,880 fans per game (so far) in inaugural season
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The day would end with a hat trick — three goals from Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle.
But in those first few minutes after the puck dropped before 13,316 fans in Minnesota’s first home game in the new Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), many players could feel history in the making at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
“I think a lot of us were nervous,” Zumwinkle told MPR News in January. “The jitters and nerves were definitely there for us.”
Minnesota shut out Montreal that day, 3-0. Goalie Maddie Rooney stopped 24 shots on goal.
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In its last home game of the regular season on Saturday, 9,977 fans turned out at the X to watch Boston defeat Minnesota 2-1.
During its first 11 home games, Minnesota averaged 6,880 fans per game. That’s only the third-highest in the league, but more than team officials expected.
“I was hoping we’d get 3,000 each game,” said Natalie Darwitz, PWHL Minnesota general manager. “I was thinking I’d be really, really happy if that happened.”
Glen Andresen, the team’s director of business operations, was slightly more optimistic. He was expecting 3,500 fans per game. Before joining PWHL Minnesota, Andresen worked at Hockey Minnesota and the Minnesota Wild. One key demographic the team has targeted are youth hockey associations and families with hockey-playing children.
Embracing the ‘Swifties’
Both Darwitz and Andresen say the team has taken a different approach to the in-arena experience than at NHL games. PWHL Minnesota is more likely to favor fans over replays on the Jumbotron and Taylor Swift over arena rock on the loudspeakers.
“When we played ‘Today Was a Fairy Tale,’ the whole arena was singing,” Darwitz said.
At Minnesota’s March 24 game at the Xcel Energy Center, at least four of those fans were from Oklahoma. Katlin Seagraves, 33, and three friends made the ten-hour drive from Tulsa for the Saturday afternoon contest against Montreal on what turned out to be a blustery winter day.
Before the formation of the PWHL, Seagraves wasn’t a hockey fan. But she did enjoy women’s sports and encouraged her friends to join her in following the fledgling league.
“When we were looking for a team to support, Minnesota was the lucky winner,” Seagraves said. “It’s geographically closest to Tulsa and we like the color purple.”
After watching Minnesota’s first several games on YouTube, the group decided to trek to St. Paul to watch the team in person.
‘Phenomenal energy’
From a player’s perspective, the nearly 7,000 fans at every game feels like a lot more. After practice on Friday, Kelly Pannek, who leads PWHL Minnesota in assists with 10, reflected on the season.
“The energy in the building feels phenomenal,” Pannek said.
Ottawa has the league’s highest attendance, averaging 7,409 fans through 11 games. Six of those games were sell-outs. Montreal has the second highest average attendance: 6,881 over 11 games, including a sold-out game at Bell Centre against Toronto before an all-time women’s hockey record attendance of 21,105.
“We had some concerns about playing in NHL buildings like we are in Minnesota,” said Jayna Hefford, PWHL senior vice president for hockey operations. “We weren’t sure what that would look and feel like, but our expectations around attendance have been exceeded in almost every market we’ve been in.”
The league’s total attendance through 64 games is 356,452 — an average of 5,570 per game.
Minnesota is currently No. 3 in the league and plays its last regular season game May 4. The top four teams in the regular-season standings qualify for the playoffs, which will start on May 8, with two best-of-five semifinals. The semifinal winners advance to the finals where they will compete in a best-of-five series for The Walter Cup.
Up next for the PWHL: a 30-game season instead of this year’s 24-game schedule, meaning the regular season could begin in December 2024.
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