Two upcoming games for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet at Boston Univ.’s Agganis Arena will be part of an effort to “gather audience data and reach new fans” -- but they could “also be a look into Boston’s future” as a PWHL city, according to Emma Healy of the BOSTON GLOBE. Near the end of the second PWHL season, the Fleet’s attendance is “thousands below the standard set by the league’s Canadian teams” -- and there is not “an obvious remedy.” The Fleet have the “second-lowest” average attendance in the league at their primary home venue, UMass Lowell’s Tsongas Center. While league execs are not worried about Boston’s lagging attendance, they “have an eye on growth” as the young league “tries to find its footing” in the North American professional sports landscape. League and team officials said that they have “no plans to relocate the Fleet,” and they are not “viewing the games at Agganis as a tryout for a potential new primary venue.” Healy wrote, though, both games at the 6,150-seat venue “are sold out,” and if the games “are successful, it could indicate to the league that it’s time for a change.” The Fleet practice in Wellesley and play in Lowell, “about a 50-minute drive from downtown Boston” that can “stretch up to two hours in rush-hour traffic.” Their weeknight attendance “suffers as a result, averaging 3,956 on weeknights" at Tsongas compared with 5,018 on Saturday and Sunday (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/6).
Boston Fleet’s Agganis Arena games aim to gather data and fans, may hint at venue’s future
