A second-generation professional sports era in Lowell proved to be short-lived.

The Boston Fleet — who called the Tsongas Center home for the first three years of the Professional Women’s Hockey League — announced on Tuesday that the franchise would move to Boston University’s Agganis Arena on a full-time basis starting in the 2026-27 season.

It wasn’t too long ago that the Mill City was a hotbed for pro sports. Beloved franchises like the Lowell Spinners and Lock Monsters made Lowell a destination for passionate area fans. The Boston Cannons even hosted lacrosse games at Cawley Stadium in the organization’s infancy.

That era looked all but over in 2020 when Major League Baseball restructured the minors, nixing the Spinners and ultimately ending the last pro sports team’s tenure in Lowell.

But 2024 marked a new beginning in Lowell’s identity as a pro sports scene. Not only did the Fleet dock along the shores of the Merrimack River, but the Massachusetts Pirates hosted Indoor Football League games at the Tsongas starting that season.

The resurgence didn’t last long. After the Pirates moved to Orlando, Fla., following two seasons at the Tsongas, the Fleet will join them as the latest team to leave the venue and city.

The Spinners, however, have since returned to LeLacheur Park this summer and are a box office hit as members of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. And the Tsongas will still be alive all winter when the UMass Lowell men’s hockey team takes the ice.

Still, the Fleet’s departure certainly hurts for fans and local businesses alike. But Lowell City Manager Tom Golden is hopeful that other sports organizations looking for a home can see how Lowell blossomed the Fleet into what it is today.

“I think that’s what we’re all about,” Golden said. “If there’s another organization out there looking for an opportunity, our right hand is always out, ready to welcome people in to make sure that we can help in any way, shape or form.”

Marie Davey and Fleet general manager Danielle Marmer also shared an exclusive letter to The Sun on Tuesday, expressing gratitude to the Lowell community.

Golden said he was made aware that the Fleet was looking to move to Agganis “quite some time ago,” but confirmed that the city of Lowell and the Tsongas were ready to welcome them back in 2026-27. At the team’s end-of-season media availability, Marmer couldn’t confirm that the team would be back in Lowell.

The Spinners, Lock Monsters, Cannons and Pirates brought talented athletes and high-level competition to Lowell. So did the Fleet. But throughout its three seasons at the Tsongas, the team put Lowell in the national spotlight on a bevy of occasions.

Take the fifth and final game of the inaugural Walter Cup Finals in 2024, where the Fleet — formerly known as PWHL Boston — hosted Minnesota in a winner-take-all game to decide the first champion of the then six-team league.

By all accounts, it was an event. Think Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The hockey world watched Minnesota skate to a 3-0 win over Boston in front of a capacity crowd of 6,309.

Despite the loss, there was serious buzz around the city ahead of the game. Ticket prices soared as high as $375 on the resale market once fans struck out at the box office.

No Fleet game at the Tsongas ever quite reached that excitement level. But the Tsongas hosted raucous playoff games and called its ice sheet home to Olympians who earned gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Megan Keller and Aerin Frankel, among others, became household names around the nation.

Hilary Knight, widely considered as one of the world’s best women’s hockey players ever, captained the Fleet for the first two seasons. Fans would flock to Lowell to see them play and the myriad of other stars who would hit the ice on a nightly basis.

But as the franchise started to experiment with hosting games in Boston — including the first-ever PWHL game at TD Garden this season — it became apparent that attendance numbers were heightened outside of Lowell.

“I hate to see it happen, but I understand the economics of what they’re trying to accomplish,” Golden said. “And I wish them all the best.”

Since the 2024-25 season, Boston played six games at Agganis Arena, staging four sellouts.

The Fleet played four games at Agganis this season, averaging 5,238 fans per game. However, the Fleet proved to draw larger crowds on weekday games in Boston. Of the four games played on the campus of BU this season, only one of them was on a weekend. The Fleet averaged 5,204 fans between the three weekday games at Agganis.

For comparison, Lowell played five of its eight games at the Tsongas during the week in 2025-26. In those five games, the Fleet averaged 4,326 fans, nearly 1,000 fewer than in Boston. Lowell’s weekend attendance was strong — an average of 5,816 — but weekday traffic proved to be an obstacle for fans commuting into Lowell.

The Tsongas hosted a pair of playoff games this past spring against the Ottawa Charge, hosting crowds of 4,285 and 6,017 fans, respectively.

“I really enjoyed their style of hockey,” Golden said. “They brought a lot of pride to the city of Lowell. We’ll always have a soft spot for them.”