📍 Savannah, Georgia
🏒 Home of the Savannah Ghost Pirates

One of the ECHL’s newest buildings, Enmarket Arena – home of the expansion Savannah Ghost Pirates – was built in 2022. The venue opened early that year for shows and other events, with the Ghost Pirates beginning play in the fall. Although their story has only just started, the team has been packing out the 7,300-seat arena and delighting their new fans with some of the best gameday spectacles in the minor leagues.

With Enmarket Arena located just west of town near an old steel plant in the Carver Heights neighborhood, there’s not much nearby other than housing and a few faltering businesses. However, the Ghost Pirates are hoping their presence will help revitalize the community. Some shopping and dining around the venue would certainly transform the area into a true entertainment district.

The new premier concert and event venue for coastal Georgia, many notable performers have already played the arena – including Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Dave Matthews Band – and the rink even hosted the ECHL All-Star Game in 2024.

What really makes Enmarket Arena stand out is its sleek, contemporary architecture. The main atrium – complete with a neon-clad team store – is characterized by massive floor-to-ceiling windows that allow lots of natural light to seep in during day games. Its stone and steel walls and bright ambiance are not something often seen at this level. The building’s local flair is also of note, with the Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame a prominent feature throughout the halls of the lower level concourse, celebrating accomplished individuals from more than a century of sports history in the region. The upper level contains lots of standing room bar areas too, including a Jack Daniels bar and an outpost of Wicked Weed Brewing. Spanky’s, home of the original chicken finger and a Savannah staple, is also among the concession offerings.

In addition to their venue’s standout design, the Ghost Pirates also boast one of the best pregame shows in the league. It all starts with a pirate shanty, sung in unison by the crowd, coupled with the hoisting of a skull and crossbones flag. In the lead up to the player introductions, the house lights tilt up and down repeatedly as a hype video pumps up the crowd, a spectacle that actually does creates chills. When the squad finally takes to the ice, they do so through a thick, green fog. The team’s vibrant neon green, in fact, is present all around the arena, down to the faceoff circles and the crossbars of each goal.

The Ghost Pirates were affiliated with the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season, the same year that the Knights would win their first Stanley Cup. Starting with the 2023-24 campaign, Savannah began an affiliation agreement with the Florida Panthers who, that same year, would also win their first ever Stanley Cup. The Ghost Pirates, however, have yet to make the postseason themselves, but both the team and their fresh fanbase are hopeful that great things are on the hockey horizon in The Hostess City of the South.