PWHL expands summer camp initiative across markets in year two, encouraging fandom and sponsor opportunities

The GIST: Following success in year one, the PWHL announced the expansion of its PWHL Summer Camps program to over 30 events across 16 U.S. and Canadian cities. The camps — which feature PWHL staff and players — will take place over the next two months and welcome all ages and skill levels.

• The PWHL is keyed into fan engagement, especially when it comes to grassroots hockey participation. It’s been a factor during its Takeover Tour stops and expansion because the league understands that playing hockey personally cultivates invested fandom in the sport — which ideally converts into pro fandom. Passing the puck forward.

The backstory: Last year, the PWHL held summer camps across multiple markets, including NYC and Seattle. This year, fans wanted more: Per the league, there was a 500% increase in demand for hockey programming. The PWHL also saw increased interest from previous presenting sponsor UPS, which boosted its support for the Canadian summer camps by becoming a title sponsor this year.

The context: Local communities in both U.S. and Canadian markets have embraced the hockey opportunity through youth clinics like these. Girls’ youth hockey participation has increased to nearly 100K in the U.S., a 41% boost within the past 10 years.

• High grassroots participation also seems to be an important factor to the PWHL as it expands. One of its new markets is Las Vegas, which is in a state that’s seen a 600% surge in girls’ and women’s hockey participation since 2017 (when the NHL came to town). San Jose, another new market, ranks sixth nationally in girls’ youth participation.

Zooming out: The PWHL recognizes how crucial nurturing the participation pipeline is for the sport, and its important sponsors recognize this opportunity, too. Young girls in hockey and their families will recognize the brands making this all possible.

• Safe Software, which is headquartered in the Vancouver region, is sponsoring its local PWHL Summer Camp. This is aligned for the software company, which has partnered with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks and says it’s committed to community impact. That’s one way for brands to seamlessly promote values alignment and bank visibility with local families. A win-win.