Color of Hockey: ECHL team owned by NFL veteran Jack, mom now Utah affiliate | NHL.com

The Jacks are part of a small but growing number of Black current and retired athletes and entrepreneurs who hold ownership stakes in professional hockey teams.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is a part-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins; retired NFL running back Marshawn Lynch is part of the Seattle Kraken investment group; “NHL on TNT” analyst and retired NHL forward Anson Carter is minority owner of Atlanta of the ECHL; and Salamander Hotel & Resorts CEO and Black Entertainment Television cofounder Sheila Johnson has a stake in the Washington Capitals along with Earl Stafford, CEO of the Wentworth Group.

“When you let people know that you own a hockey team, it kind of puts a question mark on their face,” Jack said. “But all it takes is one game and they understand what’s going on.”

Allen had the ECHL’s second-best improvement in attendance last season, growing 23.7 percent (156,553 total, per game 4,349 average) to rank 15th in the 29-team league, up from 22nd (126,579 total, per game 3,516 average) in 2022-23, according to league statistics.

Allen (33-35-4) finished third in the ECHL Mountain Division last season and lost to Idaho in five games in the best-of-7 division semifinals of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

“It’s been phenomenal for me just learning about the game of hockey, just understanding the culture, the history and actually how global the sport is as well,” Jack said. “Year Two, we’re demanding excellence from the players side of things, the coaching side of things, management, everything upstairs and even ourselves.”

Jack said the biggest lesson he learned in his first season of ownership is running a team is about more than about wins and losses.

“You have other people’s livelihoods in your hands,” he said. “The player’s career, they want the best so they can continue on to whatever their goals are within the sport. Obviously, the coaches, giving them the tools to do what they need to do. And the employees as well because I’m sure a lot of people want to move on to the AHL and the NHL and do bigger things.

“But I feel, what better pipeline in the sport to be able to give people whatever tools they need than this?”