BATON ROUGE — The Metro Council on Wednesday recognized members of the Baton Rouge Zadeco for setting a Federal Prospect Hockey League attendance record in its inaugural season. The ceremony took place the day before Zydeco's press conference announcing its plans for 2024-2025.
The city-parish government said it does not know what the team will announce. A lease has already been signed, and the city and Zydeco agreed to a three-year contract in April last year.
Metro City Councilor Darryl Hurst said the team contributed to an $18.1 million boost to the local economy.
“They outnumbered the entire league in attendance,” Hurst said. Zydeco averaged 3,958 fans per game, two more than the team from Binghamton, New York. The previous league record was 3,507 games, set by Binghamton last year.
“I want to thank everyone here for praising us, Zadeco and what we've done,” team owner Barry Soskin said. “We're very excited and happy with what we've done. The attendees are not only fans, but the business community has really helped us get to where we need to be. Ta.”
Jill Kidder, president and chief executive officer of Visit Baton Rouge Tourism, said that the He said fans passed through the turnstiles at River Center to watch the team. .
Zydeco won six of their final eight games but missed out on the league playoffs.
“At the end of the season, we obviously learned how to win games. Next year we'll be thinking about how to win championships,” said defenseman Edgars Ozolinic from Riva, Latvia. Ta. “Let's bring that cup next year.”
