“Hockey” means two very different sports depending on which hemisphere you’re in, and both versions of the women’s game are having a standout year.
Ice Hockey: The PWHL’s Breakout Season
The Professional Women’s Hockey League has become the standard-bearer for growth in women’s team sport. Its neutral-site Takeover Tour drew more than 123,000 fans across nine games in its debut season, and the 2025–26 expanded tour features 16 games across 11 cities. Individual milestones have piled up quickly: a record crowd of 17,228 filled Capital One Arena in January 2026, topping the previous mark of 16,014 set by the Seattle Torrent’s home opener just weeks earlier. Either the Sirens or Torrent have been involved in every U.S. attendance milestone set this season. We cover the broader trend in our feature on women’s sports breaking attendance records.
- The IIHF Women’s World Championship remains the sport’s top international prize, contested annually between the leading hockey nations
- PWHL franchises now anchor markets in both the U.S. and Canada, giving the league genuine coast-to-coast reach
- League-record crowds have come from both home openers and neutral-site “Takeover” matchups
Field Hockey: A Global Pro League
On grass, the FIH Pro League runs an annual home-and-away format between the world’s top-ranked women’s national teams, feeding directly into qualification for the Hockey World Cup, held every four years. Continental championships in Europe, Asia and Oceania add further competitive stakes between World Cup cycles.
Two Sports, One Growth Story
Whether it’s ice or grass, the pattern is the same: bigger crowds, deeper broadcast deals, and rosters full of players who are now recognizable stars in their own right. For more on which teams are setting the pace across disciplines, see our list of women’s sports teams dominating 2026, and for the season’s biggest remaining dates, check our upcoming women’s sports finals guide.