Today, the Arena Football League (AFL) announced the highly-anticipated revival of the Louisiana Voodoo franchise, which previously competed in the league as the New Orleans Voodoo from 2004 to 2008 and then again from 2010 to 2015.
As part of the organization's relaunch, the team will play all its home games in Lake Charles at the Sudduth Coliseum within the Lake Charles Event Center. The Voodoo will compete under the coaching leadership of James Shiver, who previously served as head coach of the Montgomery Maulers of the National Indoor Football League and earned Coach of the Year honors.
Shiver, a graduate of the University of Lafayette with a master's from Louisiana College, also served as the offensive coordinator for the Lake Charles Land Sharks. Most recently, he served as athletic director and head coach at St. Edmund High School.
"The Voodoo are coming back to Louisiana, and we couldn't be more thrilled," AFL Commissioner Lee Hutton said. "With the support of the Louisiana community and the Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter, the team will be quickly integrated into the cultural epicenter of this passion football fanbase and etch a new chapter into the Voodoo legacy."
"This is an exciting day for Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana," said Mayor Nic Hunter. "Welcoming arena football back to Lake Charles with a legacy team like the Louisiana Voodoo is simply wonderful. This new partnership with the AFL offers further evidence of a very bright future for the Lake Charles Event Center. We look forward to making Lake Charles home to this team's players, staff and management and cannot wait to see them make their way onto the turf for the first time in 2024."
Prior to the Voodoo era, Louisiana boasted the New Orleans Night franchise that briefly played in the AFL in 1991 and 1992.
The Louisiana Voodoo are the latest team to be announced by the AFL, as they previously introduced a multitude of franchises, such as the Nashville Katz, Oregon Blackbears, lowa Rampage, Wichita Regulators, Salina Liberty, The Southwest Kansas Storm, Rapid City Marshals, Albany Firebirds, Washington Wolfpack, Orlando Predators, Billings Outlaws and West Texas Desert Hawks.
For more information on the Louisiana Voodoo, please follow the team on Instagram and Twitter.
