Is there a hockey team coming to Richmond, Texas? Yes. The Houston Bulls will play NAHL junior hockey at the new Deep South Ice & Sports Center in Richmond, Texas, beginning with the 2026–27 season.
Richmond, Texas has been on a serious growth streak for years: new subdivisions, new businesses, new infrastructure, and now something that would have seemed unlikely just a decade ago: a professional-level junior hockey team calling our city home. The North American Hockey League recently announced that the Houston Bulls will begin play in Richmond for the 2026–27 season, making this one of the most exciting community developments Fort Bend County has seen in a long time.
As someone who works in this market every day, I can tell you that announcements like this don’t happen in stagnant cities. They happen in places people are choosing to move to. Richmond is one of those places.
Who Are the Houston Bulls?
The Houston Bulls are not a brand-new franchise. They’re a relocation. The team was formerly known as the North Iowa Bulls, a member of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) based in Mason City, Iowa. The NAHL Board of Governors approved the move to the Houston metropolitan area, and the team will compete in the NAHL South Division starting in 2026–27.
The NAHL is a Tier II junior hockey league in the United States, and it’s the second-highest level of amateur hockey in the country. Players are typically between the ages of 16 and 21 and are developing their skills with an eye toward college hockey or, for the best of them, a path to the pros. Connor Hellebuyck, the goaltender who helped Team USA win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics, got his start in the NAHL South Division with the Odessa Jackalopes. The league has a real track record of developing talent.
The South Division is also heavily Texas-centric, which means the Bulls will have natural rivalries with in-state teams including the Amarillo Wranglers, the Corpus Christi IceRays, the El Paso Rhinos, the Lone Star Brahmas, and the Odessa Jackalopes.
The Facility: Deep South Ice & Sports Center
The Houston Bulls will play at the Deep South Ice & Sports Center, a brand-new, privately owned, 150,000-square-foot facility located at 3327 Harlem Road in Richmond. The facility is scheduled to open in summer 2026, just ahead of the Bulls’ inaugural season.
Here’s what the facility will include:
- A 1,800-seat arena for Houston Bulls home games
- 14 private suites and two party decks
- A second NHL-size practice ice sheet
- A volleyball center for multi-sport use
This isn’t a converted warehouse or a repurposed rink. It’s a purpose-built, multi-sport entertainment destination designed for Richmond and the broader Greater Houston community. The scale of it is significant. At 150,000 square feet, it’s a serious footprint, and the suite count alone tells you there’s a real corporate and business community investment strategy baked into this project.
What Does This Mean for Richmond?
Beyond the games themselves, this kind of development carries real economic weight. Melissa Toon, President and CEO of the Central Fort Bend Chamber, summed it up plainly: a facility of this size brings new visitors, new patronage for local restaurants and hotels, new jobs, and new enterprise to the area.
That’s not just chamber-of-commerce optimism. It’s how sports venues work. The Houston Bulls will bring more than 30 home games per season to Richmond, which means out-of-town families and fans traveling in on game nights, spending money locally. The facility will also host volleyball events and other programming beyond hockey, spreading that economic activity across more of the calendar year.
For the real estate market, this matters too. Amenities drive desirability. When a city adds entertainment venues, sports facilities, and destinations that give people a reason to stay and a reason to move here, that has a measurable effect on demand for housing. Richmond was already growing fast. Fort Bend County has been one of the fastest-growing counties in the country for years, and investments like the Deep South Ice & Sports Center reinforce that trajectory.
What About the NAHL’s Presence in Texas?
Richmond won’t be the only Texas city with an NAHL team, but it will be one of the newest entries into a league that already has a strong presence in the state. Five of the nine teams in the NAHL South Division are based in Texas, which means the sport has an established fan base and competitive infrastructure already in place. The Bulls are joining a real regional rivalry, not starting from scratch.
Tyler Shaffar, president of the management group overseeing the Houston Bulls, has said publicly that the team’s goal is to deliver more than 30 nights of high-level hockey and entertainment each season. Devon Buckland, the team’s vice president with prior experience in both the NAHL and the United States Hockey League (USHL), is leading day-to-day operations.
Richmond Is Growing, and This Is What That Looks Like
If you’ve lived in Richmond for a while, you’ve watched this city change in real time. New neighborhoods, new retail corridors, new schools, and now a junior hockey team and a 150,000-square-foot sports complex. This is what a growing city looks like.
For buyers who have been considering Richmond as a place to put down roots, this is the kind of community investment that reinforces the decision. For sellers, it’s another data point that supports why buyers want to be here.
If you’re thinking about buying or selling in Richmond, Rosenberg, or anywhere in Fort Bend County, I’d love to talk through what’s happening in the market right now.
FAQ
When do the Houston Bulls start playing in Richmond? The Houston Bulls will begin their first season at the Deep South Ice & Sports Center in Richmond, Texas during the 2026–27 NAHL season. The facility is scheduled to open in summer 2026.
Where is the Deep South Ice & Sports Center located? The facility is located at 3327 Harlem Road in Richmond, Texas. It’s a privately owned, 150,000-square-foot multi-sport complex that will serve as the permanent home of the Houston Bulls.
How does a junior hockey team affect home values in Richmond? Sports and entertainment venues are community amenities, and amenities drive desirability. They don’t operate in isolation from the real estate market. They’re one of several factors that make a city more attractive to buyers and investors. Richmond was already one of the fastest-growing markets in the country, and continued investment in local infrastructure and entertainment reinforces that demand.
