ECHL approves expansion application of Bloomington, Illinois; team to begin play next season

A new minor league hockey team will be coming to the Midwest.

On Tuesday, the ECHL’s Board of Governors approved expansion membership for a team to be placed in Bloomington, Illinois, with the expectation that the franchise begins play in the 2024-25 season.

The City of Bloomington will be confirming the negotiated lease next Monday.

The team in Bloomington will enter the ECHL alongside the Tahoe Knight Monsters, giving the league 30 teams at the start of next season.

They will be owned by Hallett Sports and Entertainment. The organization also owns the Indy Fuel, the ECHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. They also operate the Fishers Freight of the Indoor Football League.

“The ECHL is thrilled to welcome Bloomington, Illinois into the League and rejuvenate professional hockey in the market as the League’s 30th Member,” ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin said in a release. “Bloomington is a natural geographical rival for our teams in the Central Division, and Hallett Sports has shown a commitment to the communities they serve in growing the game and fan experience.”

“I am extremely excited to bring professional hockey to Bloomington,” said Fuel Owner & Chairman Jim Hallett. “And watch the sport as well as the community grow through this expansion.”

The team will play in the Grossinger Motors Arena. Opened in 2006, its owned by the city of Bloomington.

This is not the first time pro hockey has tried to make a name for itself in Bloomington. The Bloomington PrairieThunder played in the defunct United Hockey League, International Hockey League and Central Hockey Leagues from 2006 to 2011. They were renamed the Blaze in 2011, playing the CHL for two seasons.

Then, the Bloomington Thunder played one season in the SPHL (2013-14), before dropping down to the junior ranks, becoming a member of the United States Hockey League from 2014 to 2017. One last rebrand saw the franchise become the Central Illinois Flying Aces, playing in the USHL from 2017 to 2019.

The ECHL has seen rapid growth over the last half-decade. They expanded into eastern Canada with the Newfound Growlers (f. 2018) and Trois-Rivières Lions (f. 2021). The Iowa Heartlanders (f. 2021) and Savannah Ghost Pirates (f. 2022) also joined the league.