Seattle fans, get ready to cheer for pro women's hockey: The city has scored a PWHL expansion team just in time for the 2025–26 season.

Why it matters: Seattle joins the Professional Women's Hockey League amid growing momentum for women's sports nationwide, with viewership, media investment and fan demand at an all-time high.

Driving the news: The PWHL announced yesterday that Seattle will become its eighth team, debuting in the 2025–26 season starting this fall.

The big picture: The expansion taps into a city with an engaged fan base and one of the few pro teams in the country owned solely by women.

• The city is home to the Seattle Storm, four-time WNBA champions, which set a franchise attendance record — more than 18,000 fans — at a 2024 game at Climate Pledge Arena.
• OL Reign fans broke the all-time NWSL attendance record two years ago at Megan Rapinoe's final match and regularly drew crowds of more than 8,000 last year.
• That passion showed up again in January, when a PWHL exhibition game at Climate Pledge Arena — part of the league's Takeover Tour — brought in 12,608 fans, signaling real demand for a permanent team, per PWHL.

What they're saying: At yesterday's announcement, Amy Scheer, PWHL's executive vice president of business operations, referred to Seattle as "the capital of women's sports."

• "We are going to bring the best hockey you will ever see in the world. … I promise you, if you come to a game you will fall in love with PWHL."

Between the lines: Seattle joins Vancouver as the PWHL's first two expansion teams, and the two cities are expected to develop a natural rivalry given their proximity and shared hockey history dating back to 1921, the Seattle Times reports.

What's next: Season ticket deposits for PWHL Seattle are now open at thepwhl.com.

Tell a fan

From labor strikes to WTO unrest and immigrant rights marches, Seattle has long been a city that shows up.

Why it matters: As May Day marches return to Seattle, the city's history of activism underscores how deeply protests are woven into its civic identity.

Driving the news: Seattle's May Day events kick off at noon today with a rally at Cal Anderson Park, followed by a march advocating for workers' and immigrants' rights.

Catch up quick: Seattle's protest history started more than a century ago.

1919 general strike: 65,000 workers walked off the job in the first citywide general strike in U.S. history.

1934 waterfront strike: Longshoremen shut down West Coast ports for 83 days, demanding union recognition and better working conditions.

Civil rights movements of the late '60s and '70s: Students marched against the Vietnam War, the local Black Panther Party demonstrated for racial justice, and Indigenous activists led the Fort Lawton occupation, demanding land and cultural recognition and eventually securing the Daybreak Star Cultural Center.

1999 WTO protests: Tens of thousands disrupted the World Trade Organization summit, drawing global attention and prompting a significant police response in one of the largest protests seen in Seattle.

2000-2016 May Day marches: Annual immigrant rights demonstrations were sometimes joined by black-clad anarchists, with some years marked by property damage and arrests. ​

• In recent years, the marches have been largely peaceful.

2020 racial justice uprisings: Protests following the murder of George Floyd — many aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement — led to the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone and citywide debates over policing and equity.

Go deeper

🏈 The Seattle Seahawks will be among the first teams to debut the NFL's new "Rivalries" uniforms designed to be worn during games against division foes. (Field Gulls)

🚗 More Seattleites are driving solo to work again, according to a new survey of 75,000 workers and students by Commute Seattle. (Mass Transit Mag)

A longtime U.S. green card holder's family says she was detained at Tacoma's ICE facility after returning from a trip to Ireland to visit relatives. (FOX 13)

Moms in Washington are having children later, according to new provisional CDC data.

Why it matters: Increased access to fertility treatments and reliable birth control are helping more women delay parenthood, although obstacles remain to getting pregnant later in life.

By the numbers: The average age of mothers in the Evergreen State having babies has crossed into their 30s.

• In 2003, the average age for giving birth in Washington was 27.9.
• As of 2024, it's 30.3 — just above the national average of 29.7.

Check your glove box, your junk drawer and the jackets you wore last fall.

Why it matters: Washington's Lottery says at least 13 big prizes — worth $10,000 to 1 million — are still on the table, including one $10,000 Match 4 ticket that will be forfeited after Friday.

State of play: The unclaimed Match 4 winner was purchased at the Walmart on 16th Avenue South in Federal Way and will expire on Sunday, per the lottery.

• The winner has only until 5pm Friday to claim it, though, since lottery offices are closed on weekends.
• Other unclaimed prizes include multiple $10,000 Match 4 tickets, a $230,000 Hit 5 ticket sold in Silverdale, and a $1 million Mega Millions ticket purchased in Camas — all totaling over $1.36 million.
• See the full list here.
• Players have 180 days from the draw (or final ticket sales) to claim their prize.