IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Palm Springs will have its own professional hockey team.
The American Hockey League has awarded an affiliate franchise to NHL Seattle, the organization that is putting an NHL team in that city, which was announced this week.
The affiliate team, the AHL’s 32nd, will play in the $250 million arena that the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians will develop in downtown Palm Springs.
Both teams are scheduled to begin play in October 2021.
The arena will be built on tribal-owned land and will seat 10,000.
Besides being home to the Coachella Valley’s first professional hockey team, the arena will host concerts and other sporting events, tribal officials said when the project was announced in June.
Palm Springs will be the sixth California team in the AHL, along with Ontario, Bakersfield, San Diego, San Jose and Stockton. The AHL-NHL connection is virtually identical to Triple A and Major League Baseball.
