CINCINNATI — In a further commitment to women’s professional sports and a national television platform for its further fan connection and growth in popularity, Scripps Sports has reached what it calls “a landmark partnership” that represents the first season-long coast-to-coast domestic TV package for a league that’s all about women on ice — with sticks in hand.
A national broadcast rights agreement is in place between the E.W. Scripps Co. unit led by Brian Lawlor and the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), starting with the 2026-27 season.
The TV rights deal comes at a time when the PWHL is 12 teams for the upcoming season.
The 2025-2026 season concluded with eight teams in the league, located in Boston; St. Paul, Minn.; Montréal, New York, Ottawa, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver. The upcoming season sees expansion teams hitting the ice in Detroit; Las Vegas; San Jose, Calif.; and Hamilton, Ont. The PWHL launched on January 1, 2024.
For Scripps Sports, it plans to produce and televise a featured Saturday “Game of the Week” that will air across the U.S. on ION, the broadcast network it acquired in January 2021. The ION network will also serve as the home for the PWHL Walter Cup Finals and playoff series.
Other games? Two PWHL games per week will be shown on the Scripps Sports Network, a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel available on The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Prime Video, Fire TV, Google TV Freeplay, and Tubi, in addition to other streaming platforms.
For fans in Detroit and in Las Vegas, local broadcasts will be seen on Scripps O&O stations WMYD “The Spot – Detroit 20” and KMCC “The Spot – Vegas 34,” respectively.
“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 PWHL Executive Vice President of
Business Operations Amy Scheer. “Scripps continues to be a committed partner in shining a spotlight on
women’s sports, and for the first time, our American fans will have the opportunity to follow the league on
national television throughout an entire season, making the PWHL more accessible than ever before.”
For Lawlor, who serves as President of Scripps Sports and formerly led the broadcast TV arm of Scripps, “Women’s sports is a cornerstone of our mission to create meaningful connections between communities and the sports and teams they love. This partnership further demonstrates ION as the premier destination for women’s sports, where athletes can showcase their talents on the biggest stage and fans can discover their next favorite team.”
The agreement builds on telecasts seen last season that include ION’s coverage of a game between the New York Sirens and the
Montréal Victoire, and the 2026 PWHL Walter Cup Finals, presented by Scotiabank.
PWHL games will continue to stream live on the league’s official YouTube channel and thePWHL.com to fans in the U.S. and
worldwide outside of Canada.
In Canada, the PWHL Finals and a sizable number of regular-season games can be seen on TSN. Select games are also on Rogers’ Sportsnet, while a Saturday “Game of the Week” appears on CBC television and a Tuesday offering is exclusive in Canada to Amazon Prime Video subscribers. French-language coverage for regional and select national games can be found on RDS and Radio-Canada.
