It was a hoped-for announcement years in the making, and it has come true. Professional hockey is returning to Augusta.
The Grand Lobby of the Bell Auditorium was filled with people for the announcement that the ECHL Board of Governors has approved an expansion team for Augusta, beginning with the 2027-2028 season. The team will play in the new Augusta arena, currently under construction.
In the weeks leading up to the 2023 vote to approve a Construction Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (C-SPLOST) to build a new arena, Coliseum Authority vice chairman Brad Usry, who was also chairman of the new JBA subcommittee, said the new arena would create 600 jobs and have an estimated $1.5 billion economic impact.
Among the crowd was one of the people on the frontline of that economic impact. Bennish Brown, President and CEO of Destination Augusta, told ABD he is excited about what is coming.
“It’s going to be a phenomenal time period where we go through another evolution. And bringing hockey to Augusta in 2027 is just going to be a big, big, big part of that,” he said. “This hockey team, this facility, the ice in this new arena is going to bring an awful lot of excitement. This is going to be a great opportunity for family entertainment and to attract people to come to Augusta. We talk about major experiences. This is going to be one of those experiences.”
The ECHL is entering its 38th year, giving the Augusta team a solid footing to bring top-level players to the Garden City.
“We’ve really solidified ourselves as the developmental league to the NHL and AHL,” said Ryan Crelin, Commissioner of the ECHL. “There used to be a lot of other leagues out there, but minor league hockey and development hockey are really solidified. The fact that we’ve now been able to reach 30 teams this year and announce Augusta as number 32, I think, shows the growth.”
While the $250 million C-SPLOST bond will fund the arena, Oakview Group (OVG) committed $10 million to pay for the ice floor and a practice facility.
“This is your facility. This is the community facility, and we’re a steward of that. And we’re going to work hard, obviously, to make it better and fully booked, but the arena is going to be so special, and it’s going to take entertainment to another level,” OVG Chairman Peter Luukko told the crowd. “Listen the old the old arena was fantastic, but times are changing. The venue business, the venues are bigger, faster, stronger, and have more capacity.”
The new arena will have a seating capacity of more than 10,500. That compares to 7,000 for the original JBA.
The team’s day-to-day operations will be overseen by Andy Kaufmann, owner of Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, a professional sports management group based in Jacksonville, Fla. It is also behind the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen, Savannah Ghost Pirates, Greensboro Gargoyles, and the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.
The co-owners of the team are David Hodges is chairman and CEO of 356 Sports and Entertainment, and Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL player Tim Tebow. He told ABD community will be at the heart of the new Augusta team.
“We were part of the Iceman in Jacksonville, and we saw what it got to do for our community and so many of the people that we try to serve,” he said. “This being another opportunity where we can just see the impact. I love sports, so I love seeing what it could do for communities, for families, and all the above. It’s just something that’s so special, especially when you give young boys and girls role models and people they can look up to, and it’s contagious. People want to be a part of it.”
The community is being asked to join the excitement leading up to the return of professional hockey by suggesting names for the new team. Suggestions can be submitted at: https://www.augustaprohockey.com/name-the-team. A vote will be held for the final name selection.
