On the concourse of Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday morning, the rumors became official: the PWHL is expanding to Detroit.
The PWHL, along with representatives of Ally Financial, Ilitch Sports and Entertainment as well as Detroit mayor Mary Sheffield, made the decision public. During the press conference it was also announced that the PWHL would be having their entry draft at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, just across the way from the new team’s future home at LCA. The draft will be a ticketed event open to fans. According to the PWHL website, Detroit will also host the 2026 PWHL Awards Ceremony.
Detroit has long held the moniker of “Hockeytown” and it was often painted at center ice first at Joe Louis Arena and later at Little Caesars Arena. Since the inception of the PWHL, there was a glaring hole that was inevitably going to be filled. Detroit hosted the very first Take Over Tour game and from the jump the fans in the area made their wishes crystal clear by repeatedly chanting “we want a team.”
Detroit routinely set Women’s Hockey attendance records for the USA and with each game the chants of wanting a team here in “Hockeytown” grew louder and more boisterous. Jayna Hefford, PWHL Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, said during the announcement: “In Year One, we read signs that said we want a team, in Year Two we read signs that said we deserve a team, and in Year Three we read signs that said we earned a team. Well, you were right.”
PWHL Detroit will play its first games this coming fall at the start of the 2026-27 season. Not only will the team share LCA with the Red Wings (NHL) and Pistons (NBA), but they will also be using the Belfor Training Center as their practice facility, sharing that with the Red Wings. If this expansion follows a similar timeline as las years expansion into Vancouver and Seattle, then you can expect a team name and full branding sometime in November of 2026 just as the season is getting ready to start. Deposits for season tickets went live with the announcement this morning as well as a fully stocked merch store.
