PWHL game at Madison Square Garden sets U.S. women's hockey attendance record

A sold-out crowd of 18,006 fans watched the New York Sirens take on the Seattle Torrent in the league’s debut at MSG. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Share full articleNEW YORK – The Professional Women’s Hockey League has set another U.S. attendance record for women’s hockey,  this time at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. A sold-out crowd of 18,006 fans watched the New York Sirens take on the Seattle Torrent in the league’s debut at MSG. The game also marked the first time fans have been in the stands for a women’s professional hockey game at the iconic venue. “It’s hard not to get choked up,” said Stan Kasten, a PWHL Advisory Board member and the Los Angeles Dodgers president and CEO. “We were not forecasting this. Not in year three.” “This is a really special moment,” added Billie Jean King, also on the advisory board. LSU basketball star Flau’jae Johnson, King, Ilana Kloss — another advisory board member, a former U.S. Open champion and King’s wife — participated in the ceremonial puck drop. The crowd roared as each player was introduced. Sirens jerseys littered the stands, and “Let’s go, Sirens!” chants (with accompanying “wee-woo” calls) broke out within the first five minutes. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard it that loud,” King said about the atmosphere on the league’s broadcast during the game. “This is so perfect for (the players).” The PWHL has now broken the attendance record for a women’s hockey game in the United States eight times since its inception in January 2024. The previous record was 17,335 – established in Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on Feb. 27, the Torrent’s first home game after the 2026 Milan Olympics. Saturday’s draw has raised the bar yet again and is the latest proof of concept that there is an audience for women’s professional hockey. According to Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s executive vice president of business operations, the game at Madison Square Garden – and another at TD Garden in Boston on April 11 – were nearly sold out before the surge of interest in women’s hockey after the Milan Olympics. “This league is for real and the demand is there,” Scheer told The Athletic. “Eighteen thousand New Yorkers are coming out to see the New York Sirens and the Seattle Torrent play a game at Madison Square Garden. … It’s monumental.” There’s more attention on women’s hockey than ever before after another dramatic Olympic gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada, and the PWHL has done well to capitalize on that momentum. According to the PWHL, the league is on pace to surpass one million ticketed fans in a single season later this month and is seeing a 25 percent year-over-year increase in average attendance. Just last week, the league saw its highest weekly attendance ever (80,703), which included major crowds at a “Takeover Tour” neutral site game in Detroit (15,939) and Seattle (16,586). “Women’s sports is on its way,” King said before the game. “Finally.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms