With Two New Teams, PWHL Boosts Production Workforce and Central Review for Season 3

World feed remains central as production footprint grows 30% across U.S. and Canada

The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) drops the puck on Season 3 tonight with a fully expanded, eight-team footprint — and a broadcast operation designed to meet the moment. With the addition of Seattle and Vancouver, a near-doubling of Takeover Tour stops, and a multi-platform distribution plan reaching more than 96 million homes, the PWHL enters 2025-26 with its most ambitious production and accessibility strategy yet.

Raycom Sports and Dome Productions return as the league’s lead production partners in the U.S. and Canada, respectively, with the PWHL once again producing a single world feed for all linear, digital, and OTT partners. For a league intent on consistency — of look, feel, and quality — that central feed remains the backbone of its growing media ecosystem.

The PWHL brings back Raycom Sports and Dome Productions as the production partners for its world-feed model. Here, the team at Dome Productions produces Game 1 of the PWHL Finals in Ottawa in May.

“We’re focusing a lot of effort on enhancing what we’ve done right in the first two seasons, so that it continues to meet our fans’ expectations,” says Jeremy Langer, VP, broadcasting and scheduling, PWHL. “Our league feels privileged to work with such a talented and dedicated group of industry professionals and hockey legends week in and week out. We’re all aligned to expand the reach and accessibility of this great game. It’s a phenomenal product, and our partners at Dome and Raycom have played a crucial role in helping stand this league up so it’s successful for generations to come.”

Production Scale Expands With Two New Teams, Larger Crew

Although the technical blueprint remains largely the same as a year ago, the overall scale has grown significantly. With Seattle and Vancouver joining the league, the PWHL added 30 regular-season games — and with them, a 30% expansion in production personnel, from on-air talent to producers, directors, and below-the-line crew.

Langer notes that the league will test several remote production positions during the season as part of its continued push toward workflow efficiency. The PWHL has also increased centralized officiating-review capacity in Toronto, strengthening decision-support infrastructure across the entire schedule.

To support the expanded footprint, GameDay Creative and TVG have refreshed the league’s graphics package to incorporate the two new clubs and deliver a consistent, updated look across all distribution partners.

For the first time, every PWHL market, including the two expansion teams, will host a Season 3 home opener this weekend and next. The full North American broadcast slate spans TSN, Sportsnet, CBC, MSG, NESN, FDSN, FOX 13+, Prime Video, and a wide range of OTA affiliates.

From a production standpoint, early-season matchups will serve as the first real-world test of the updated graphics, expanded crews, and refined world-feed workflows that will define the league’s day-to-day coverage in 2025-26.

A World Feed Built for Dozens of Partners

A central philosophy of the PWHL’s media approach is designing a single feed flexible enough to serve an unusually varied set of destinations: national networks, OTT streamers, regional sports networks, local over-the-air broadcasters, and a global digital audience.

The PWHL’s Takeover Tour series expanded significantly this season. In January, the producer/director tandem of Katie Halter (left) and Amanda Smerage called the Takeover Tour game in Denver.

“It takes a lot of coordination to produce one world feed to serve multiple purposes,” says Amy Scheer, EVP, business operations, PWHL. “It’s hard for one-size-fits-all, but I think we’ve done an exceptional job of that. We’ve done a good job of delivering a high-quality broadcast that our players deserve: high quality on the air and high quality on the ice.”

The world-feed approach is also foundational to the PWHL’s mantra of accessibility. Instead of exclusivity and fragmentation, the league has opted for reach — and partner-by-partner flexibility — as it looks to build long-term fandom.

Inside the league, many talented individuals are putting in the work to fuel the league’s growth: Manager, Broadcasting and Scheduling, Monica Burke; Senior Director, Brand and Marketing, Ali Bologna; Senior Manager, Digital and Social, Kaylee Herndon; Media Manager Libby Kamen; Coordinating Producer Mike Brock; Senior Manager, Marketing, Michael Diana; Senior Director, Partnership Service, Courtney Albin; and Director, Communications, Paul Krotz.

U.S.: RSNs, OTA Stations, a Major Push for Discoverability

In the U.S., the PWHL continues with RSN partners NESN, MSG Networks, and FanDuel Sports Network (FDSN) while also relying on distribution via major over-the-air station groups.

New agreements with FOX Television Stations, Paramount, Scripps Sports, Gray Media, and TEGNA extend the league’s reach to approximately 56 million U.S. homes. The Seattle, Minnesota, and New York markets now feature every home game on either an RSN or a local broadcast affiliate.

“We are honored to continue working with the league and helping it grow,” says Bill Stafford, VP, engineering and technology operations, Raycom Sports. “One of the significant aspects of working with the PWHL, Dome, and all our vendors is that we share a common goal: the success of the PWHL. We have invested in additional production capabilities for this season, including some new Canon lenses, Sony high-frame-rate cameras, and graphics workflows to help showcase the action on the ice. In addition, as part of Gray Media, we are thrilled to be able to broadcast some of the games on our stations and RSNs.”

To meet the demands of a league with two new franchises, the PWHL’s production crew has grown by 30%.

All U.S. games will continue to stream for free on the PWHL YouTube channel and thepwhl.com, a decision that has proved crucial for fan growth, especially in new or emerging markets.

A staple of the PWHL’s geographic-growth strategy, the Takeover Tour expands from nine stops last year to 16 markets, with new events this season in Calgary, AB; Chicago; Dallas; Washington, DC; Halifax, NS; Hamilton, ON; and Winnipeg, MB. In the U.S., all Takeover Tour games will air on local OTA partners, including TEGNA, Scripps, and FOX-owned stations.

MORE: SVG Rewind: Producer Katie Halter, Director Amanda Smerage Reflect on PWHL Takeover Tour’s Record-Setting Day in Denver

For production crews, these Takeover Tour games introduce venue variability — different buildings, camera positions, operational support — but also allow Dome and Raycom to showcase the league in sports-intense regions not yet home to a full-time PWHL franchise.

Canada: Sportsnet Returns, Prime Video Tuesdays, and TSN Wednesdays

In Canada, distribution again spans the country’s largest media organizations: TSN, RDS, CBC/Radio-Canada, Prime Video, and, returning this year, Sportsnet.

All 120 games are available live across linear and digital platforms. Notable weekly pillars: Tuesdays exclusive on Prime Video, Wednesdays exclusive on TSN, Thursdays on TSN and Sportsnet, and weekends across CBC, TSN, and Sportsnet.

French-language coverage remains robust, with all 30 Montréal games available across RDS, Radio-Canada, and Prime Video.

Elsewhere internationally, every game remains available live on YouTube and the league’s website (except in Canada, Czechia, and Slovakia). In Czechia and Slovakia, Nova Sport continues its local coverage.

The global free-to-access streaming model remains a key engine of audience growth. For Season 3, that international footprint aligns with the PWHL’s ongoing focus on discoverability, creating the broadest possible entry points for new fans.

The 2025-26 PWHL season gets underway tonight with Toronto at Minnesota at 6 p.m. CT, followed by the inaugural games for the league’s two debutantes: Seattle Torrent at the Vancouver Goldeneyes at Pacific Coliseum at 7 p.m. PT.