ECHL Announces Second Expansion Team for 2024-25

We all knew that the Lake Tahoe Knight Monsters were joining the ECHL next season, but what we didn’t know is that the ECHL will have a second team joining the league as the Board of Governors approved the expansion application for Bloomington, Illinois, and the team will join the ECHL next season. The new team in Bloomington will be owned by Hallett Sports and Entertainment, which also owns and operates the Indy Fuel. Bloomington will play at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, “The ECHL is thrilled to welcome Bloomington, Illinois, into the League and rejuvenate professional hockey in the market as the League’s 30th Member,” said ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin in a press release from the league. “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, which makes puck drop in 2024-25 very exciting for next season”.

This isn’t the first time Bloomington has had a team, as they had a team that played in the SPHL during the 2013-14 season before spending three seasons in the USHL. The location works well as the team will be relatively close to both the Indy Fuel and Iowa Heartlanders, who are both less than a three-hour bus ride away. Bloomington will likely join the Central Division, and Tahoe will likely join the Mountain Division, giving both divisions eight teams in the Western Conference.