The Sea Lions' identity centers on a circular logo showing a sea lion's head and torso rising from the waves, rendered in a blue and sunset orange color scheme that draws on the marine mammals found in Bay Area waters. The league said the name also honors the San Francisco Sea Lions of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association, a 1946 team that featured Toni Stone, the first woman to play regularly in a major men's professional league.

The other new teams are the Detroit Clutch, Vegas Vanguards and Hamilton Havoc. The four markets were chosen this spring as the PWHL grew from eight teams to 12, doubling its footprint since the league launched on Jan. 1, 2024. The fourth season opens with an opening weekend set for Dec. 5-6.

Tuesday's announcement came a month after the league revealed the expansion teams' color schemes. Merchandise with the new logos and nicknames is on sale now, but the branding will not appear on the expansion clubs' jerseys until next season because the designs were not ready when PWHL jerseys were ordered. For their first season, the four teams will wear their city names across the front of their sweaters.

"Each team's unique identity was built with the spirit and legacy of the community at the center," the league said in a news release. "Women-led PWHL design teams were at the helm of the process to develop each city's brand identity."

The league said the Vegas and San Jose designs were developed in collaboration with the creative agency Doubleday and Cartwright.

The other identities carry local references of their own. Detroit's Clutch nods both to the city's automotive industry and to delivering under pressure, with a black-and-white circular logo built around an automotive wheel outlined in red and art deco-inspired lettering. Vegas' Vanguards draws on the pioneering spirit of the West, using cactus green, desert gold and navy, with a kit fox native to the Mojave Desert whose ears form a "V." Hamilton's Havoc, the league said, reflects the balance between industry and nature in the Ontario city, where steel mills stand alongside the Niagara Escarpment; its logo shows a peregrine falcon, Hamilton's official bird, perched atop steel-forged lettering in rusted steel, tempered gold and orange.

For Bay Area hockey fans, the unveiling marks another step toward the region's first PWHL season. San Jose was selected as an expansion market this spring, and the franchise made history in June by drafting Laila Edwards with its first pick. The team now has a name, a logo and a countdown to its first game in December.