Six teams competed during the inaugural season, located in Montreal, Toronto, New York/Bridgeport, Boston, Ottawa, and Saint Paul.

The PWHL was announced in August 2023 after the Mark Walter Group announced the formation of a new league aligned with the players in the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, and then subsequently purchased and folded the rival Premier Hockey Federation in June 2023.

[3][4] On the same day, the league announced the general managers for each team: Danielle Marmer for Boston, Natalie Darwitz for Minnesota, Pascal Daoust for New York, Gina Kingsbury for Toronto, Daniele Sauvageau for Montreal, and Michael Hirshfeld for Ottawa.

[3] The draft order was announced on September 1, with the lottery won by Minnesota, followed by Toronto, Boston, New York, Ottawa, and Montreal.

[9] On October 25, 2023, PWHL Holdings, LLC filed potential names for the six teams with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

According to The Athletic, the potential names were Boston Wicked, Minnesota Superior, Montreal Echo, New York Sound, Ottawa Alert, and Toronto Torch.

[13] PWHL executive Jayna Hefford stated that the unified camp enabled the league to experiment and provided an opportunity for team and player education around issues like safety and doping.

[13] On January 15, it was announced that 24 PWHL players would participate in the 2024 NHL All-Star weekend in Toronto, playing a 3-on-3 showcase game on February 1.

The schedule paused in February for an IIHF National Team Break, and in April for the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships.

On February 16, 2024, Toronto hosted its first game at the Scotiabank Arena against Montreal dubbed by the league as "The Battle on Bay Street.

[33] On April 20, 2024, Montreal hosted Toronto at the Bell Centre dubbed as the "Duel at the Top" breaking the previously set record with an attendance of 21,105.

[34] † - suspension covered at least one 2024 postseason game By virtue of finishing first overall, Toronto was able to choose its first-round opponent between fourth-place Minnesota and third-place Boston.

[41] Game two remained scoreless until Jesse Compher scored with 1:25 left in regulation to give Toronto a 1–0 lead; Hannah Miller added an empty-net goal with 10 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach, with Campbell turning aside 21 Minnesota shots to give Toronto a 2–0 victory.

Although Michela Cava opened the scoring for Minnesota in game one, Aerin Frankel stopped 30 out of 33 shots as Boston secured a 4–3 victory.

[50] Minnesota responded in game two with a 3–0 victory that saw Nicole Hensley post a shutout and Sophie Jaques score two goals.

Minnesota appeared to capture the victory and the series when Jaques shot the puck past Frankel with 2:34 remaining; however, the goal was reviewed and disallowed due to goaltender interference, and 70 seconds after play resumed, Alina Müller scored for Boston to send the series to a fifth and deciding game.

PWHL Special Advisor Cassie Campbell-Pascall and New Jersey Devils Director of Player Development, Meghan Duggan served as coaches.

The two teams were named in honor of former tennis players and current PWHL advisory board members Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss.