Denver PWHL News

As the league narrows its list of expansion prospects behind closed doors, the looming question for hockey-hungry Coloradans is “Where?”

Let’s step back. The PWHL is Big. Season one set expectations high, and the league has only continued to grow. Average attendance for the league was 9,304 in the 2025-26 season, and the PWHL now ranks only behind the NHL in average attendance. The days of professional women’s hockey being played in community rinks and malls are long since gone.

PWHL Denver would need a home for around 15 home games, with expansion potentially lengthening the schedule. While some neutral site “Takeover Tour” games would replace home games, availability for around 15 games and the playoffs would be needed for the team. So, what venue would a prospective Denver PWHL team look towards? Here are the most likely options for where the team could call home.  

1. Ball Arena

Ball Arena, owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, is the current home of pro-indoor sports for Denver. Ball Arena hosted three PWHL Takeover Tour Games and had attendance ranging from 11k to 15k. While this venue would be perfect for an expansion team, already having the three primary tenants and a busy concert schedule makes it hard to single this out as the team’s primary venue.

It is important to note that KSE owns the building, Avalanche, Nuggets, and the Mammoth. Even if the PWHL could draw a larger attendance than these teams, KSE has more money to make off their own teams playing in their own barn.

Hockey Capacity: 17,809

Location: Denver, CO

Other Tenants: Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Mammoth (NLL)

2. Magness Arena (University of Denver)

Home of the 11x National Champions Denver Pioneers Men’s Hockey team, Magness Arena is only other current hockey arena in Denver. While Magness Arena is in a great location relative to Denver & I-25, the arena is simply not large enough for the growing league. The record hockey attendance was 7,033, which would rank 2nd to last in league home venue capacity, but the official attendance listing is only 6,315. While the size of the venue is not ideal, the availability of the rink is. Denver Men’s Hockey only has 18 home games from October 2026 through February 2027, and every game is either on a Friday or Saturday. With nearly every Sunday – Thursday date open for most of the season, Magness arena offers the availability that holds Ball Arena back.

Hockey Capacity: 6,315

Location: Denver, CO

Other Tenants: University of Denver Hockey & Gymnastics Programs.  

3. Denver Coliseum

Ah, the Denver Coliseum. A historic, beautiful, but very outdated barn. First opened in 1951, the Coliseum is owned by the City of Denver and has been the home to various hockey teams in Denver on and off since 1959. Hockey has not been played at the Denver Coliseum since 2014 when the Denver Cutthroats folded. While it would require an unknown financial commitment to get the Coliseum up to PWHL standards, it would not be unheard of. The Vancouver Goldeneyes were in a similar scenario with the Pacific Coliseum and turned it into one of the league’s best home venues.

While it is not an NHL-capacity building, it is larger than Magness and is still located in Denver. With no sports teams calling the Denver Coliseum home, scheduling is much better than Ball Arena and, to a lesser extent, Magness Arena. Almost all of January at the Coliseum is booked by the National Western Stock Show, but that could just mean home games for that time are played at Ball Arena or on the Takeover Tour.

Hockey Capacity: ~10,000

Location: Denver, CO

Other Tenants: National Western Stock Show, miscellaneous events.    

With limited options for arenas in Colorado, barring new construction, it is hard to see any other venues hosting a PWHL expansion team. Blue Arena is too small and too far away from Denver. Why would the league want to put a team almost an hour away from Denver for only around 100 more seats than Magness Arena? The same goes for the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs. Capacity is roughly 200 more than Magness Arena, and while I have no doubt a team would do well in the Springs, Denver is where the league has the largest financial opportunity.

So where will a team land? I firmly believe that this arena problem is the only thing stopping the league from expanding to Denver. Based on the league’s precedent, I see this going two ways:

Magness/Ball Arena Split

Based on Ball Arena’s availability, the team could play home games between the two venues. The Takeover Tour games have been a success for the league, so with those neutral site games and the two centrally located Denver venues, a schedule could be worked out.

Denver Coliseum Revival

While it would take work to prepare the building for a PWHL team, it is very likely that this is where a Denver franchise could end up. Following in Vancouver’s footsteps, this would add another true home venue to the league. The Coliseum is a bit further away from the city center than Ball Arena & Magness, but the capacity is right, and the building is beautiful.

With expansion news expected sometime in the next few weeks, a solution to the arena problem will be revealed. Either the league will have an answer, or this problem will make Denver miss out on a team.