Sarah Fillier spent her first two seasons with the New York Sirens accustomed to staring at empty blocks of seats across the bench during home games.
Due to poor turnouts, the PWHL team — for practical and visual purposes — limited ticket sales for seats in Sections 2-11 located behind the benches at the Prudential Center, home of the NHL New Jersey Devils.
All that changed for New York’s game against Ottawa on March 8, when the entire lower bowl was
filled. Fans even populated sections in the upper level to help set a Sirens home attendance record of 8,264.
“Being able to look across and see fans cheer you on, getting involved in the game and reacting to in-game emotions and situations, it was so cool,” Fillier said of a turnout that saw a 6-2 win and eclipsed their previous best of 5,132.
“We’ve experienced a lot of that on the road, when the crowd is really against you. It was really nice to have them truly on our side this game,” she added. “And we obviously wanted to put on a show so we can hopefully get them back at future home games.”
The Sirens’ attendance spike reflects a surge in attention for women’s hockey, and for the PWHL in particular, in the weeks following Team USA’s 2-1 overtime win against Canada at the Winter Olympics.
The PWHL’s first three games out of the Olympic break were sellouts, including a league-record 17,335 turnout in Seattle. The league has already sold out upcoming games at Madison Square Garden and Boston’s TD Garden. And the post-Olympic attention led to the PWHL reaching a deal with Scripps Sports to broadcast its first game to a national U.S. audience.
“You always hope for the best. You have this belief that this could be something big,” executive VP of business operations Amy Scheer said. “Have we exceeded expectations? Sure. But I think inwardly we knew what was capable of happening here.”
One benefit was having a two-plus-year leadup to the Olympics, which allowed the league to establish a presence in six markets before adding expansion teams in Seattle and Vancouver this season. It also gave PWHL executives time to develop a plan on how to leverage the Games to market itself to fans and sponsors.
Scheer said the PWHL invited about 25 partners to join them in Milan, including coordinator hotels, tickets for events and dinners.
“We made sure every piece of our business was ready to capitalize on what could happen and was going to happen after the Olympics,” she said. “And now that work, and maybe the most important work, is continuing.”
The one-time broadcast deal with Scripps Sports was struck in Milan, and has the potential to turn into a long-time partnership. Sponsors were pitched on various programs and youth development projects the PWHL is preparing to launch.
And then there’s more expansion, with the PWHL planning to add as many as four markets for next season.
As for ticket sales, StubHub released figures on Friday that indicate searches for PWHL games have jumped by nearly 50% since the Olympics. Ticket purchases for the league’s four U.S.-based franchises have jumped by 42% over the same time last year.
The game-changer is having the PWHL in place. While women’s hockey always enjoyed a boost every four years, players never had an established league such as the PWHL to come home to until now.
“It’s incredible,” said Boston Fleet defender Megan Keller, who scored the clinching goal against Canada and went on to make a celebrated appearance on “Saturday Night Live” with team captain Hilary Knight. “I’m not totally shocked. But I would say, yeah, it does feel like I was a little bit surprised at how much attention we got from the Games."
The evidence is with the Sirens, a team that had difficulty finding a home in its first season before moving to New Jersey, and struggled generating attention in a crowded sports market. The team averaged a league-low 2,764 fans per game last season.
Fillier might have settled for silver in representing Canada, but is celebrating the benefits the entire league is enjoying coming out of Milan.
“I think it was just the perfect storm of an incredible final gold medal game, and just bringing fans right into the PWHL, and have that hockey kind of on demand for them to be a part of,” Fillier said. “It’s incredible. And it’s a testament to this league, too, and all the players who have been here from the start.”
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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
