Sports News
Agganis’s capacity for hockey is 6,150 — about 350 seats smaller than Tsongas, but on par with the team’s average attendance this season.
Lowell’s Tsongas Center. Erin Clark/Globe Staff
July 7, 2026 | 11:11 AM
2 minutes to read
After three seasons calling the Tsongas Center home, the Boston Fleet are relocating within Boston city limits.
Agganis Arena, on the campus of Boston University, will be the Fleet’s primary home venue for the 2026-27 season after the team played the majority of its home games through the PWHL’s first three seasons in Lowell.
The Fleet built a loyal and vocal base of fans in and around the Merrimack Valley, and while the team often commended the Tsongas Center for its hospitality, the venue created logistical challenges for fans who live in Boston or south of the city.
In the past two seasons, the Fleet played six games at Agganis Arena. Four drew sellout crowds, a promising sign for the team’s future in Boston.
“The passion for the Fleet in the City of Boston has continued to grow since our first game at Agganis, and this move allows us to build on that momentum while creating new opportunities to connect with supporters throughout Greater Boston, the South Shore, and Rhode Island,” Fleet director of business operations Laura Marie Davey said in a release.
On weeknights, the Fleet struggled to fill the seats at Tsongas, likely because commuter rail service is infrequent and rush-hour traffic means it can take upward of two hours to drive from downtown to Lowell.
The Fleet’s average announced attendance at the Tsongas Center this season was 4,938, including the team’s two playoff games — 5,867 for four weekend dates and 4,320 on six weeknight ones. At Agganis Arena, which hosted four PWHL games this season, the Fleet averaged 5,238 fans overall and 5,205 on weeknights.
Agganis’s capacity for hockey is 6,150 — about 350 seats smaller than Tsongas, but on par with the team’s average attendance this season.
“We’re deeply grateful to the Lowell community and our partners at the Tsongas Center, whose support has been instrumental in the growth of our organization,” Davey said in the release. “We look forward to carrying that support with us as we begin this next chapter.”
The Tsongas Center was the site of the inaugural season’s Walter Cup clincher, when the Minnesota Frost beat the Fleet, during its three years as the team’s primary home. – Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
The Fleet made their Agganis debut during the 2024-25 season, drawing sellout crowds in both of their games at the venue, then in two of last season’s four games. The team is 3-0-1-2 at Agganis Arena.
The Fleet will share the venue with the BU men’s hockey team, which is scheduled to play 18 home games at Agganis next season, and the BU women’s team, which primarily plays at Walter Brown Arena but will play one game at Agganis.
Sixteen of those 18 BU games are scheduled on Fridays or Saturdays, though times have not yet been announced. (The Fleet shared Tsongas with the UMass Lowell men’s team, which played a similar schedule.) The PWHL, which will grow to 12 teams next season, has not released its 2026-27 schedule.
“Watching the growth of the PWHL and other women’s leagues across sports has been nothing short of incredible,” Agganis Arena executive director Kris Brassil said in a release. “The Boston Fleet, the PWHL, and, most importantly, the fans have been a pleasure to host here at Agganis, and we’re very excited to continue to build those relationships as a perfect complement to BU’s proud hockey tradition.”
