© Christian West

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles NFL linebacker Myles Jack and his mother, LaSonjia Jack, who became the first Black majority owners in ECHL history last season when they assumed control of the Allen Americans. Allen entered a one-year affiliation agreement with the Utah Hockey Club in July.

NFL linebacker Myles Jack said owning the Allen Americans of the ECHL has been a learning experience.

“It’s basically like taking a business course in college but now it’s the real deal and you’re putting your chips on the table,” Jack said. “Year One was a blur. Year Two, we’ve got more things under control so I’m excited to try some new things.”

One of those things for the ECHL’s first majority-Black-owned team led by Jack and his mother, LaSonjia Jack, is a new affiliation with the NHL’s newest team, the Utah Hockey Club.

Utah and Allen entered a one-year affiliation agreement on July 31 after Allen had been an affiliate of the Ottawa Senators since August 2022.

We have reached a one-year affiliation agreement with the ECHL's @AllenAmericans!

https://t.co/EtOgY1Hd2b#UtahHC pic.twitter.com/y1jtnphsgL

— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) July 31, 2024

“We’re proud to be the first ECHL affiliate for the new franchise, Utah,” said LaSonjia Jack, who goes by “LJ.” “Allen, we’re doing good things, they’re (Utah) doing big things.”

Utah assistant general manager John Ferguson said the team chose Allen because “The Americans are a first-class organization with a passionate fan base and a reputation of winning.”

“We look forward to working with Americans Ownership, Myles and LaSonjia Jack, this season.”

© Zawyer Sports & Entertainment

LaSonjia Jack said several NHL teams reached out to Allen at the end of last season about possible affiliation for 2024-25, but she described partnering with Utah as “a match made in heaven.”

“I sat in on those interviews and had discussions with each of those teams,” she said. “[Utah] thought it was very important for us to have our coach (B.J. Adams) synergize with their coach (Andre Tourigny), have regular calls, be able to provide feedback when they sent down players.

“And the last thing was access. Our coach gets to be able to go to Utah, sit in on meeting and develop a bond with Utah. Utah said, ‘Hey, let’s do it.’ And we said, ‘Let’s go.’”

Mother and son made history when they became the ECHL’s first Black majority owners when they took control of Allen in October.

The Jacks have had minority ownership stakes in Jacksonville of the ECHL since 2021, Savannah of the ECHL since 2022 and Lake Tahoe, entering its inaugural ECHL season.

The Jacks added to their hockey portfolio on July 15 when Zawyer Sports & Entertainment — an organization in which they are partners — acquired controlling interest in Charlotte of the American Hockey League, the affiliate of the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

“It’s a cool little match, getting to meet the Florida Panthers management and kind of learning from those guys,” said Myles Jack, who played three games for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season and is currently an unrestricted free agent. “It’s cool to be blessed to be able to meet people and them being so open and sharing their knowledge. It’s phenomenal.”

© Karl Roser/Pittsburgh Steelers

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?”