Detroit to get a PWHL expansion team in 2026
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Professional women's hockey is coming to Detroit.
The Motor City will receive a Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) expansion team for 2026-27, the league announced on Wednesday, May 6, with home games to be played at Little Caesars Arena.
"Detroit fits the bill in every imaginable way," said Amy Scheer, PWHL executive vice president of business operations. "When you look at the Takeover Tour over the course of our three seasons, we've averaged well over 13,000 fans a game, over 25,000 fans just this year alone over two games. So we love the fanbase here. Our fans have told us they want a team here, and you have to listen to your fans in sports, and we did.
"Our partnership with Ilitch Sports + Entertainment, they are just wonderful partners to work with on a daily basis. From Day 1, they have very much appreciated what the PWHL is and what we bring to the table and how we could work together to grow the sport of hockey. Little Caesars Arena is just a beautiful venue that we fit into perfectly."
What are Detroit PWHL colors?
Detroit will host the 2026 PWHL awards ceremony on June 16, and the 2026 PWHL Draft on June 17, with the draft taking place at Fox Theatre as a ticketed event open to fans.
The Detroit team’s primary colors — black and silver — will be complemented by white as a secondary color and red as an accent. The team's jerseys in its first year will likely feature a simple "DETROIT" running diagonally down the crest, a nod to the league's original uniforms and repeated with expansion teams in Seattle and Vancouver.
"I couldn't be more excited," said Ryan Gustafson, president and CEO of Ilitch Sports + Entertainment. "We've been talking about this partnership for a long time and the PWHL and their group has done such a tremendous job in a short period of growing the league and the interest in the women's game."
What is PWHL history so far?
The relatively new league was launched on Jan. 1, 2024 with an abbreviated first season in the spring of 2024.
The original PWHL teams: the Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and Toronto Sceptres.
The PWHL expanded for the first time last season, adding the Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes in the Pacific Northwest.
The Minnesota Frost are two-time defending champions, with back-to-back wins in the Walter Cup Playoffs.
Detroit has been waiting for PWHL
Denise Ilitch, whose family owns Ilitch Sports + Entertainment, which runs the Detroit Red Wings, Tigers and Little Caesars Arena – brother Christopher Ilitch heads ISE – predicted the PWHL was coming to Detroit earlier this year.
"I believe we'll be getting a team in Detroit soon, which really excites me," Ilitch said on her "Denise Ilitch Show" podcast on March 31.
Ilitch also serves on the Board of Regents at the University of Michigan and has been a strong advocate for a U-M women's hockey team in recent years.
The PWHL has made tour stops to Detroit four times in the last three years and some of the best women's hockey players in the nation are from Michigan, including Megan Keller, who was the hero for Team USA women's hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Despite a lack of Division I college hockey teams in Michigan, the PWHL featured 13 players who listed Michigan cities as hometowns during the 2025-26 season.
During the 2023-24 season, 13,736 hockey fans set an attendance record at the time for a professional women's hockey game in the United States.
The league's last appearance in Detroit on March 28, 2026, featured a 3-1 Victoire win over the Sirens in front of 15,938 fans at Little Caesars Arena.
Detroit also received a WNBA expansion team recently; the team, yet to be named, is slated to start play in 2029.
This story will be updated.
Jalen Williams is a trending reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com.Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit to get a PWHL expansion team
