On the road again

The GIST: Last week, the PWHL announced the return of the Takeover Tour — which brings PWHL games to other markets — for a third season. And the next edition is bigger and better: The league will host 16 neutral-site games and visit seven new cities while returning to multiple stops from last year.

• The tour is clearly working for the league and its fans, but the overwhelming sponsor opportunity has yet to be fully unlocked. On the rush.

The details: The tour will hit 11 different locations spanning the U.S. and Canada, predominantly at NHL venues. The league is going back to popular sites like Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, and Québec City while adding Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Halifax, Hamilton, D.C., and Winnipeg.

The strategies: While the essential concept remains the same, the tour is heading to hockey-loving markets that haven’t been tested by the PWHL yet, such as Dallas and Chicago. Additionally, five markets — Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, and Halifax — will host two games this year, which may make them frontrunners for franchises.

• This will also be the third consecutive year the PWHL hosts a game at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena, which has set the U.S. professional women’s hockey record for two straight years.

The why: Last year’s tour was a smash success, bringing out over 123K fans in record-breaking crowds across nine games. Not only did the league see fan engagement through attendance and social media following, but it sold tickets to a new sector of fans: Approximately 80% of these fans were attending their first PWHL game.

• Plus, the Takeover Tour provides an important market testing opportunity. Though multiple cities made compelling cases for expansion franchises last year, Seattle and Vancouver ultimately won out — and for good reason. Both markets have avid fans, with both teams seeing record season ticket and jersey sales before the puck has dropped. Power play.

The opportunity: Though it spans many new, unestablished PWHL markets, the fervent Takeover Tour fandom makes it the talk of each town, providing a unique and powerful opportunity for sponsors to activate and impact engaged audiences. And while the Takeover Tour lacked major sponsors last year, 2026 is already different.

• PWHL Canada partner DoorDash is the title sponsor of all Canadian tour stops with other brands present in individual markets. There’s BJ’s Wholesale Club in Dallas, PWHL partner Woody Creek Distillers in Denver, Ally Financial in Detroit, Explore Edmonton in Edmonton, and the Province of Nova Scotia in Halifax.

• The tour is an exciting event to highlight in all of these markets, and though not everyone will get a franchise, cities enjoy the economic boost through tickets, merch, concessions, and hospitality. If the Takeover Tour is going to be a mainstay, brands should consider the local and international reach of signing on. It’s called wheeling and dealing.

The GIST: This week, the NBA announced a new Disney+ deal that puts games on the platform in the Philippines. When Disney+ acquired exclusive European UEFA streaming rights in June, we predicted the possibility of Disney leveraging its global streaming access to start building a stable of sports media rights. Let’s dive in.

The details: Beginning today, Disney+ subscribers in the Philippines — home to one of the strongest international NBA markets — will have access to live NBA games, NBA events (such as the 2026 Draft), and some ESPN documentaries.

• Without easy NBA access, much of the league’s fandom in the Philippines has flourished over social media and cultural touchpoints such as murals and community tournaments. And the Asian sports market remains fragmented, something Disney+ could easily address with its reach across several key Asian markets.

The why: It may seem odd for Disney+ to begin pursuing international sports streaming rights, especially with the existence of ESPN+. But for now, only U.S. customers can access ESPN’s streaming platform. And while ESPN has extensive global reach through partnerships with local networks abroad, it’s not the same as having its sports content easily available on a streamer.

• And that’s the beauty of global sports on Disney+. The streamer doesn’t have the same restrictions, so leagues already working with Disney (i.e. all U.S. sports leagues, including the WNBA and NWSL) can tout their instant, unique access to global sports markets through Disney+.

What’s next: We’ve also theorized that Apple could similarly leverage its tech brand to pursue global sports rights, even though it’s primarily focused on its U.S. reach so far. But in an increasingly competitive streaming marketplace, companies should use their edge to snatch up global sports markets, especially in Asia.

• Sports fandom is booming across the continent, especially for European soccer leagues, MLB, and the NBA. It’s also surging across women’s sports like soccer (China and India are driving growth) and basketball, where the Women’s Basketball League Asia drew 2.7M viewers for its first-ever championship game. Ready to play ball.