BATON ROUGE - The new Kingfish mark another attempt at professional hockey in Baton Rouge after the Baton Rouge Zydeco, who played from 2023-2026, folded back in May. 

While the Zydeco's stint in Baton Rouge ended poorly, the team got off to a fast start in its debut season, setting a Federal Prospects Hockey League record for attendance with over 100,000 fans coming to their games.

With the new Kingfish to begin playing in October, the question remains whether or not this new ownership group can get this team to stick in the Baton Rouge market in a way the previous Kingfish and Zydeco didn't.

"The opportunity to come in and make a success out of this where we know that there's support in the market," said Kingfish owner Andreas Johansson. "We know that there's been a history of hockey here. It's a big city with a lot of potential fans and support. Being able to take something on like this and see if we can turn it around is really exciting."

Something the Kingfish have that the Zydeco lacked is a Baton Rouge local in the ownership group. Jacob Hector, a local business owner and a former Zydeco sponsor, fills that role. 

"I think people from Louisiana trust people from Louisiana," said Hector. "I just think it comes down to building trust in the community, and once they know they can support the team and their expectations are met, then everything works out."

The River Center cited communication issues with Zydeco ownership as a problem, so getting a local in the new group was important. This new relationship between the new team and the arena is still young, but it seems to be off to a good start.

"I've seen more communication in the past two months than I have in the previous three years," said River Center general manager Wayne Hodes. "I'm really looking forward to working with these guys."

The Kingfish will play in the FPHL (Federal Prospects Hockey League), the same league that the Zydeco did. The River Center had discussions with other leagues, but returning to the FPHL was the only way the team would be able to play the 2026-27 season.