Hockey: PWHL lands its first full US season on ION

A first, and the number that explains it

The Professional Women’s Hockey League has a national television home in the United States for a full season. Scripps Sports and the league announced their broadcast rights agreement for 2026-27 on Wednesday. Neither side disclosed the terms.

The figure that matters is 128 million. That is roughly how many American households ION reaches, and ION is where the PWHL’s Saturday game will land every week of the season. Two further games each week will also air across the Scripps portfolio.

Three years ago the league did not exist. Its American broadcast footprint until now amounted to isolated national windows, which makes a season-long linear commitment a different order of thing entirely.

$0.99

7-day trial

Full Pro access.
Try it for $0.99.

Picks · Injury reports · Trends · Tools · No ads — no commitment

Let’s do it

Detroit and Las Vegas were part of the calculation

Local Scripps stations in Detroit and Las Vegas will carry games as well. Those two cities take on PWHL teams this autumn, pushing the league to 12 clubs, and the overlap with the Scripps station map is not a coincidence.

“A season-long national television presence in the U.S. is something we’ve been working toward and represents a significant step in our continued growth as a league,” said Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s executive vice president of business operations.

Scheer framed the agreement around access rather than revenue, which fits how the league has behaved since launch. Canadian rights were locked down first. The American side took longer.

The relationship was already there

Scripps and the PWHL tested each other before signing anything long term. On March 28, the Takeover Tour meeting between the Montreal Victoire and the New York Sirens became the first PWHL game broadcast on national linear television in the United States. ION carried it.

ION also held coverage of the 2026 Walter Cup Finals. Two proof points, one for a regular-season fixture and one for the championship series, came before any full-season deal.

What the league gets now is repetition. A women’s professional hockey game on the same channel, in the same Saturday slot, for an entire season, is a habit an audience can actually form.

Discover the rest of our hockey news on MathODDS!

MathODDS App

Your picks,
in your pocket.

Predictions · Trends · Tools · Injury reports
Real-time notifications & alerts

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

MathODDS

→

★★★★★