Everyone watches women’s sports.
The PWHL’s Seattle Torrent recently set a new U.S. attendance record for a professional women’s hockey game, with 17,335 fans packing the barn at Climate Pledge Arena on Feb. 27. That record – which broke a previous record set by the PWHL, which broke a previous one before that, and so on – likely won’t stand very long.
The PWHL announced sellouts for upcoming games at Madison Square Garden and TD Garden, both of which will surpass the Seattle record. The New York Sirens will make their MSG debut on April 4 against the Torrent, with a capacity crowd of more than 18,000 expected.
Days later, the Boston Fleet host the Montréal Victoire at TD Garden, which holds a capacity of 17,800. The games mark the first Sirens and Fleet games to be hosted at the NHL rinks and represent both a significant post-Olympics boost and overall increase in attendance & popularity. Per the PWHL, league attendance is up more than 17 percent season over season through the first half of the 2025–26 campaign.
In a statement, Amy Scheer, executive vice president of business operations for the PWHL, called the sellouts ‘a true testament to [PWHL fans].’
“Playing for the first time at these two world-class arenas will be another step in what has already been a historic season for our league, and the atmosphere for fans and players alike will be nothing short of incredible,” Scheer added.
Both games will provide a nice boost for the teams, representing the largest home game attendance ever for both the Sirens and the Fleet.
The Sirens typically play at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. This season, they’ve averaged 3,207 fans per home game. (This does not include two Takeover Tour games in Dallas (8,514) and Washington, D.C. (17,228). To put the impact of the Madison Square Garden game into perspective: a crowd of 18,000 for a single game would represent 70.2 percent of the entire home game attendance this season for the Sirens, combined.
The Fleet have split this season between Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA and Agganis Arena, on the campus of Boston University. Through six ‘true’ home games this PWHL season, the team has averaged 4,682 fans. (Again, this does not include two Takeover Tour games in Detroit (9,624) and Halifax, NS (10,452). A capacity crowd at TD Garden would be more than the attendance at their last three home games combined.
Of course, there are additional upcoming games that could break the U.S. attendance records, too. The Sirens and Minnesota Frost will meet at Denver’s Ball Arena on March 15. On March 28, the Sirens and Victoire play at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena.
Regardless, the PWHL keeps breaking its own attendance records, further reinforcing that now is the time for women’s sports. If you’re not already paying attention – now is the time, and The IX Sports is a great place to start.