Hockeytown is getting a women’s team.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League on Wednesday announced an expansion to Detroit next season, adding a ninth franchise at a time of record growth.
The team will be known as PWHL Detroit until its name and logo are revealed, and will play at Little Caesars Arena. Its primary colors are black and silver, complemented by white and red — a nod to the NHL's Red Wings.
Demand has been high for a PWHL team in Detroit, as evidenced by the thousands of fans who have turned out for games during the league’s Takeover Tour. The city was poised for expansion selection, having hosted four games across three seasons — the most of all neutral sites — with a total turnout of 53,586 fans.
The first two PWHL games in Detroit set U.S. attendance records for women’s hockey. The most recent game in March, during the league’s first U.S. broadcast, was the highest attended game in Detroit and one of the largest crowds of the tour at 15,938.
“The energy, the attendance, the engagement, the passion, you have set the bar for what hockey fans can be and should be,” said Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s executive vice president of business operations, during the announcement. “Each visit, it left us with that same feeling: This market is ready for its own team. The fans told us so.”
With the addition of Detroit, the PWHL will now have five American teams to Canada’s four, a signal that the league is capitalizing on growing nationwide interest in the sport.
“Bringing a PWHL team to Little Caesars Arena is an exciting next step for our city and for the continued momentum of women’s hockey,” Chris Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Companies, said in a press release. Scheer credited the company, which operates the arena and the Red Wings, for being a driving force in the expansion.
Detroit in June will also host the 2026 PWHL Awards Ceremony and the 2026 PWHL Draft, where Team USA’s gold medalists Caroline Harvey and Laila Edwards are expected to be top picks.
PWHL executive vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford credited Detroit for its strong youth hockey development systems and said the new team will give players an opportunity to “dream big” and build careers in the sport they love.
“This is a state that has consistently developed talent, and helped push women’s hockey forward, often without the spotlight it deserved,” Hefford said during the announcement, citing the more than a dozen PWHL players from Michigan. “So in many ways, this moment feels like a natural next step.”
The announcement comes in the middle of the Walter Cup playoffs. The Minnesota Frost and the Montréal Victoire are tied 1-1 in their best-of-five series, as are the Ottawa Charge and the Boston Fleet.
