PWHL Takeover Tour rolls into Rogers Place: Why it might be Edmonton’s turn to land a team

Apr 16, 2026 | Sports

The 2025/26 PWHL Takeover Tour came to a close on April 7 in Edmonton as the Boston Fleet took down the Vancouver Golden Eyes 5-1 at Rogers Place.

However, as much as fans’ attention was drawn to the ice, there is no doubt that many fans — including myself — were wondering when a permanent PWHL franchise would call Edmonton home. 

It was roughly two years ago when I attended the WNBA Canada Game in May of 2024 at Rogers Place between the LA Sparks and the Seattle Storm. After the game, I wrote a piece about why Edmonton was a good choice for a professional women’s sports franchise. 

Since then, the WNBA announced its first Canadian expansion franchise, the Northern Super League completed its first season and the PWHL has expanded from six to eight. The league is on the verge of announcing which cities will join the league next season, and it feels like the day that Edmonton lands a team is so much closer than some might think. 

Sports fans have speculated Edmonton could be a candidate, and when you look into the details, it makes sense. 

For starters, the City of Champions has a proven track record of the city’s support for women’s hockey. In the last year, Edmonton has hosted two Rivalry Series games (an annual women’s international hockey series between the USA and Canada) and three Takeover tour games. Attendance at Rogers Place for the three Takeover Tour games has been impressive.

At the February 2025 game, Edmonton had 17,518 fans attend — the third-highest ticket sales on the tour. In December, there were 10,264 fans in attendance and another 10,764 in April during the last round.

Edmonton was also one of four cities to host two games on the Takeover Tour schedule this year.

Throw in the fact that Edmonton has led the WHL in attendance for three consecutive years and almost averaged a sell-out for each NHL home game in 2025/26, and it feels like a PWHL team would be a shoo-in for Edmonton. 

Now, there are some logistical hurdles to hosting a PWHL franchise that need to be addressed to make it happen.

Especially since adding another hockey team to Rogers Place during the same time the NHL and WHL season is going on does make it slightly more challenging to make a PWHL team a reality. 

The first challenge is the scheduling at Rogers Place. Handling all three teams simultaneously would take some planning.

The Oilers play 41 home games from October to April, and the Oil Kings play 34 in that same time span. That means there are 75 guaranteed days out of the 212 available where either team needs the arena for a home game. 

And the most significant part of the problem is how each teams’ schedule unfolds. There are weeks where the Oilers and Oil Kings might play 2-3 times each, which can leave very little room to add another event. And there are times where neither team could play at home. 

It would require some insightful planning to ensure all three teams actually can have a manageable home schedule, but the math shows that Rogers Place can clearly handle an addition 13-15 home games that come along with hosting a permanent PWHL team — even if it comes at the expense of a few concerts making stops in Edmonton. 

Ownership is also another hurdle. The PWHL owns all teams in the league, unlike other major professional leagues, which have individual ownership groups for each team. Any permanent team would need to work out a deal with the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), which operates Rogers Place and manages the arena’s schedules and events. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot of legwork that would have to happen to get an expansion team ready, from hiring team personnel and building infrastructure for business and hockey operations.

Photo of an Edmonton game during the 2025/26 Takeover Tour, via PWHL website.

However, it would mean so much to a city that has shown up and supported women’s sports whenever the opportunity has presented itself. I love sports and will watch almost anything, but women’s sports have grown exponentially in the last few years, and that’s sparked my interest in following the likes of Caitlin Clark or Marie-Philip Poulin. 

It feels like the city is missing out with no women’s sports franchises being accessible to fans in the market. And whether that is the WNBA, NSL or a PWHL franchise, the city deserves a team.

It would do so much to not only further strengthen our city’s history of a strong sports culture, but a league would tap into a growing fanbase that is craving the chance to call a team their own.

The burning question on fans’ minds won’t be answered until the league announces the new teams in the coming weeks.

But one thing is clear: regardless of the outcome, it is starting to feel more of a when than an if that Edmonton will have the chance to call a professional women’s sports team one of its own.

And when that day comes, it won’t just be a win for the city. It will be a win for every fan who showed up before there ever was a team to show up for. 

Feature image by Geono Aloisio

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