Rio Rancho hockey team to take to the ice in 2026-27

Editor’s note: This story has been updated from its original version to include comments from REV Entertainment President Sean Decker.

RIO RANCHO — Hockey is slated to return to the Rio Rancho Events Center.

The ECHL, a AA hockey league, announced Friday that the New Mexico Pro Hockey Club will become the league’s 31st member for the 2026-27 season. The team will be based in Rio Rancho, playing its home games at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

“It is with great pleasure that the league welcomes REV Entertainment, and the New Mexico region, to the ECHL as our 31st member team as we progress the growth of the league to align with the National Hockey League and American Hockey League. REV has a proven track record of managing professional sports teams at the highest level, and we are thrilled with their commitment to bring professional hockey back to the state of New Mexico. This expansion speaks to the growth of our game throughout the continent, and will be an exciting addition to our rivalries in the Mountain Division, and a geographic fit for affiliation development,” said Ryan Crelin, ECHL commissioner.

“It’s a really high level. We’re the 31st team in the league, and there’s only 32 NHL teams. The league is really mature,” said Sean Decker, president of REV Entertainment, which will oversee the team’s operations. “We really believe in the league. ... We think we’ve got a world-class market with a world-class team and a great league, and we’re really excited to grow (in Rio Rancho).”

“I couldn’t be more excited for a new ECHL hockey team to drop puck in Rio Rancho,” Mayor Gregg Hull said. “The ECHL is a great feeder league to the NHL, and bringing hockey back to the Rio Rancho Events Center has always been a part of the vision for the venue.”

In fact, Decker said, part of the reason they were drawn to Rio Rancho was because of the involvement of city staff. “Probably around a year ago is when we started making trips to the market, meeting with the city staff and talking to them,” he said. “What was unique about the process was the city wanted to be really thorough in who they selected as an owner, and so they kind of asked us to prove whey we were the right owner.”

He also noted the Rio Rancho Events Center itself, which has the exact layout of a venue they’re worked with in the past and being familiar with the arena that way.

“But then we got to the market, learning about the excitement and hockey in the past in the market ... so much of the market has moved up towards that (area). It’s not nearly as far as people used to think it was; they’re going there for world-class events,” he said, describing the management of the Oak View Group a “huge plus.”

All team operations will be overseen by REV Entertainment’s Sports Management Division with the Dallas Stars serving as hockey operations consultants to REV Entertainment for the launch. Jared Johnson has been named as the Rio Rancho squad’s general manager, joining the franchise from the Huntsville Havoc of the Southern Professional Hockey League.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to lead the ECHL’s newest franchise and to help bring professional hockey back to New Mexico,” Johnson said. “We’re committed to building a team that’s a true staple of the community while providing exciting, affordable and family-friendly entertainment for everyone to enjoy.”

Decker said the team will be recruiting players from all over the country and even internationally. “We’ll have a hockey operation staff that focuses on putting a really quality product on the ice to compete night in and night out,” he said.

Although the team won’t officially start competing until the fall of 2026, he said movement to the area is already under way. “We’ve got staff that are moving there in the next couple of weeks, and we’re going to be hiring and have a lot of staff in the market, starting almost immediately.” The franchise, he said, is expected to bring 20-30 full-time jobs to Rio Rancho on top of what Oak View Group will need seasonally to staff the games.

This will not be Rio Rancho’s first foray into being home to a hockey team.

The events center played home to the New Mexico Scorpions from 2006-09 and the New Mexico Mustangs from 2010-12. According to Observer archives, there was hope for a local ECHL team, to be called the Raptors, announced by former City Councilor Joe Cordova in 2022, but no contract was ever signed.

“The growth of sports in general, and the success of professional sports in the market, was really exciting to us,” Decker said about bringing professional hockey back to Rio Rancho. “And getting to be the only professional hockey team in the state is, of course, a super big draw for us.”

The ECHL will enter its 38th season in 2025-26 with more than 700 NHL players coming from the league. All current teams maintain affiliations with NHL teams. Though the Stars will serve as liaison through the team’s launch, an NFL affiliate for the New Mexico Pro Hockey Club will be announced at a later date.

Decker said the partnership with the Stars was a natural fit with REV Entertainment being based out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “We have a great relationship with the Stars and their executive staff, and we asked them, being much bigger hockey experts than we are, if the could help advise us on finding an affiliate, making sure we have all the right tools,” he said. “But to date, we don’t have an NHL affiliate, but we will before we start skating in 2026.”

“The announcement of a New Mexico ECHL team is a testament to the growth of hockey in the southwestern United States,” said Brad Alberts, Dallas Stars president and CEO. “We are excited to be consulting with REV Entertainment to assist with the logistics behind the creation of a new franchise in our neighboring state. The Stars will serve as a resource to the team in all operational areas, including facility planning and hockey operations staffing as they move toward dropping the puck for the 2026-27 ECHL season.”

Decker said fans can expect to see 36-38 regular season home games each year, plus preseason and potential post-season action, amounting to more than 40 home games in a season with the first game being in October 2026. He also noted the organization’s goal of making tickets affordable for families, though exact prices haven’t been determined yet.

“What we want to do is throw a great party in a game,” Decker said. “For us, it’s about creating quality, value family entertainment. ... Really, we know our job is to put on a great event each time, day in and day out.

“Community impact is the biggest key to our business, so we’ll be super involved,” he continued. “We want to create a youth hockey program to help develop the sport in the area and give a lot of folks who otherwise wouldn’t have thought about playing hockey an opportunity to grow and learn more about the sport, so there will be camps, clinics, teams. We’re really excited to get more folks incorporated in the program.”

The Rio Rancho team’s official name will be determined through a “Name the Team” contest at NMProHockey.com, where more information can also be found on team updates and partnership opportunities. Fans can also place a $50 deposit to secure a spot to be first in line for season tickets; additional ticket packages will be available at a later date.

“It’s always fun when you come into a market to let the local community help you with ideas and concepts to name your team, and we’re excited to get feedback from the community and find the one with the most support and create a new brand with new merchandise that folks can be proud to wear,” Decker said.

He said it’s really more like a survey rather than something that will have winners and losers, saying the team may take bits and pieces of a team name from multiple ideas.

“We’ve been talking about this for a long time, and I know we’re excited to get there,” Decker said. “We’re thrilled to be there. We’re thrilled to be in the market, in the community, and look forward to being great partner for many years there in Rio Rancho.”