The SPHL will have a team in Mobile, Alabama starting in the 2027-28 season. The league announced unanimous approval of the new expansion team that will be owned and operated by Zawyer Sports & Entertainment.

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The team will play in the brand new Mobile Arena, which is expected to be completed and open in January 2027.

SPHL expanding to Mobile, AL for 2027-2028 seasonhttps://t.co/uNXVlYwUyy pic.twitter.com/91m7rmdS01

— SPHL (@SPHL) September 17, 2025

There has not been a professional hockey team in Mobile since the ECHL’s Mobile Mysticks patrolled the ice from 1995 to 2002. The Mysticks eventually moved to Gwinnett, Georgia, becoming the Gwinnett Gladiators, which have since been renamed the Atlanta Gladiators and still play in the ECHL.

The new club marks the latest team to be added to the Zawyer portfolio which is loaded with pro hockey teams. ZSE currently owns the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen, Savannah Ghost Pirates and expansion Greensboro Gargoyles, which open play this season in North Carolina. In addition, Zawyer operates and manages the ECHL’s Tahoe Knight Monsters and a new team slated to join the ECHL in Augusta, Georgia. The group also owns the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.

The Jacksonville, Florida-based company has certainly seen its empire grow through Southern hockey markets and will now get into a third professional league with the SPHL. 

The addition of the team in Mobile will put the SPHL at 12 teams with Mobile becoming the third market located in Alabama, joining the Huntsville Havoc and Birmingham Bulls.

The 2025-26 SPHL season starts Friday, Oct. 17 with a pair of games as the Hunstville Havoc take on the Roanoke Railyard Dawgs, while the defending champion Evansville Thunderbolts will go toe-to-toe with the Birmingham Bulls. 

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