The Jacksonville Icemen are ringing in their 10th anniversary season with a promotional calendar packed full of theme nights, from a Halloween-week matchup to a Teddy Bear Toss just before the holidays. The ECHL franchise announced its full slate of theme nights and recurring promotions for the 2026-27 season, kicking things off with opening night on October 16, 2026 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in downtown Jacksonville.
According to Action News Jax, the 2026-27 campaign folds the franchise's 10-year celebration into a schedule built around single-game themes, multi-day weekend events, and recurring ticket promotions. Fans can expect a Halloween game on October 31, followed by a Wizard Night on December 4 and the popular Teddy Bear Toss on December 12. The new season also marks the club's 10th anniversary since relocating to Florida, giving the promotional calendar an extra layer of significance this year.
Lizard Kings Weekend Returns With Deep Local Roots
One of the season's most anticipated stops is Lizard Kings Weekend, set for March 19 and 20, 2027. The throwback theme honors Jacksonville's original ECHL franchise, the Jacksonville Lizard Kings, which played at the former Jacksonville Coliseum from 1995 to 2000 and reached the league finals in its very first season before folding due to financial losses, according to Inside The Rink. That original team reportedly lost more than $2 million over five seasons before suspending operations, making its continued presence on the modern Icemen's promotional calendar a nod to the city's deeper minor league hockey history.
Star Wars Night lands on January 23, 2027, giving fans another single-game theme to look forward to during the winter stretch. The team will also host a St. Patrick's Day event on March 17, 2027, and a run of Military Appreciation Weekend dates spread across February 24, 27, and 28, 2027. Additional single-game themes include Mascot Games on February 5, 2027 and Hockey Is for Everyone on February 13, 2027.
Recurring Promotions and Community Nights Fill Out the Calendar
Beyond the marquee weekends, the Icemen are bringing back a set of recurring promotions throughout the season, including $3 beer and wine nights and Publix Family Sundays. The club will also host Pucks & Paws, Kids Takeover, and teacher appreciation nights on a rolling basis, plus a season-long Cancer Awareness Night initiative, according to the Action News Jax report.
Fan Appreciation Weekend closes out the regular-season promotional calendar on April 10 and 11, 2027. The heavy promotional footprint tracks with the Icemen's standing as one of the ECHL's top draws — the club led the 30-team league in average home attendance for the fourth consecutive regular season in 2025-26, pulling in an average crowd of 9,198 fans per game, the eighth-highest single-season average in league history, per an ECHL release. League-wide, average attendance reached 5,018 fans per game in 2025-26, the first time the circuit topped 5,000 fans per game since the 1997-98 season, the same release noted.
A New NHL Pipeline Heading Into the Milestone Season
The promotional rollout comes as the Icemen enter their 10th season with a new player development pipeline. In May, the team finalized a new multi-year ECHL affiliation agreement with the NHL's Minnesota Wild and the AHL's Iowa Wild, replacing its previous partnership with the Buffalo Sabres, as reported by News4JAX. The Icemen had previously partnered with the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, and Buffalo Sabres since arriving in Florida.
Jacksonville's hockey roots trace back further than the current franchise. The Icemen originally played in Indiana as the Evansville IceMen from 2010 to 2016 before league approval in February 2017 allowed local buyers to relocate the team to Jacksonville for its inaugural 2017-18 Florida season, per Inside The Rink. Home games are played at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, where stadium operators curtain off the upper seating bowl to cap official hockey capacity at roughly 8,500, well below the arena's maximum capacity of 15,000, according to the team's own venue information.
Charity Ties and a Growing Ownership Footprint
The team's promotional nights double as fundraising vehicles. Through 50/50 raffles, Chuck-A-Puck contests, and game-worn jersey auctions held during theme nights, the Icemen have generated more than $1.5 million for local Jacksonville charities since 2017, according to parent company Zawyer Sports & Entertainment. The Icemen also train and run youth programs at the Community First Igloo, a multi-rink facility that completed a multi-million-dollar renovation and held its official grand opening in June 2023, per the team.
Owner Andy Kaufmann founded Zawyer Sports & Entertainment around the Icemen in 2018-2019, and the company has since grown its regional sports portfolio to include the Savannah Ghost Pirates and, as of September 2026, controlling interest in the Huntsville Havoc. That expansion places the milestone Icemen season within a broader regional ownership push, even as the club's day-to-day identity remains anchored to downtown Jacksonville and its decade-long run at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
