In 2017, the Columbus Cottonmouths, a longtime Civic Center tenant, folded after 21 years. This left the Civic Center without a hockey tenant for the first time in its existence. Almost two years later in April 2019, the Columbus city council voted to award a five-year lease to Ignite Pro Hockey, LLC at the Civic Center.On May 21, 2019, it was announced that the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) had awarded an expansion team to Columbus, Georgia, and would be called the Columbus River Dragons