Tim Tebow. Andrew West/The News-Press / USA TODAY NETWORK

Tim Tebow to co-own ECHL expansion hockey team

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 7/10/23

Former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow cut his teeth in professional football before moving onto minor league baseball, and now, he’s taken up a new sport.

Well, sort of.

Along with Management Group, LLC CEO David Hodges, Tebow, who’s already a minority owner with the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen and Savannah Ghost Pirates, will now co-own an ECHL expansion team in Lake Tahoe, the league announced on Monday.

"I love that sports can bring people together from all over to enjoy camaraderie, competition and community impact," Tebow said in a release. "I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be part of a group bringing hockey to the Tahoe area for fans and families to create memories for years to come."

The soon-to-be-named Lake Tahoe franchise will be managed by the Zawyer Sports & Entertainment group and will play at the 4,200-seat Tahoe Blue Event Center. The Lake Tahoe team is expected to join the Mountain Division, which is comprised of teams in Allen, Texas; Boise, Idaho; Independence, Missouri; Rapid City, South Dakota; West Valley City, Utah; and Wichita, Kansas.

Build it and they will come. Just over two years since #NHL played outdoor games on Lake Tahoe, it's home to a new @ECHL franchise.@TimTebow is part of the ownership group of an ECHL expansion team to begin play in Oct. 2024 at the new @TahoeBlueEvCtr - which opens next month. pic.twitter.com/JQgDd1fhAT
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 10, 2023

Tebow played in the NFL from 2010-12 in stints with the Denver Broncos and New York Jets. He briefly attempted a comeback with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 under former Florida Gators coach Urban Meyer but he was cut before the season started.

In addition to his ECHL involvement, the 35-year-old Tebow is also part of an ownership group aiming to add a soccer franchise in the USL Championship in Jacksonville by 2025.

The ECHL is a mid-level professional hockey league based in New Jersey with 28 teams across the United States and Canada. Lake Tahoe is one of two teams the league is adding in 2024. The other will be in Athens, Georgia.

The ECHL can be thought of as the NHL equivalent of MLB’s Double-A level of the minor league system, a tier below the American Hockey League, which is the NHL’s top minor league level, similar to Triple-A.

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