Team gets a new home, fresh brand and a better fit

This past arena football season, Shreveport businessman Keith Carter was a minority investor in the city’s team during its inaugural season, standing on the sidelines with limited decision-making powers.

“I saw so much room for improvement. There was such a need for sports entertainment done the right way in the Shreveport-Bossier area. I had a lot of vendors, partners, sponsors and people who thought even though we didn’t have the best year of football (a 2-7 record), they saw it as something good for the community.”

For the 2026 season, Carter will be off the sidelines and in the middle of the action.

He and his wife (Kim) are the sole owners of the rebranded Louisiana Rouxgaroux, which remains a member of the National Arena League.

“I feel I was able to put together the right team, and am doing it for the right reason — to produce a product everyone will be proud of.”

The Rouxgaroux will have a new home next year. For three main reasons, the team is leaving Shreveport’s Hirsch Coliseum and headed to Bossier City’s Brookshire Grocery Arena.

“Committing to the dates (seven Saturday nights March-May), a better experience for the fans and a large outpouring from a fan base that was excited about the opportunity Brookshire Arena will bring to the fan-base, from tailgating to the pavilion, to the food and beverage, to the availability of seating we wanted. We tripled the size of our field suite opportunities. The overall operations and logistics of operating in that arena just seemed like a better fit for me and the organization.”

With the Rouxgaroux crossing the Red River, the team’s name needed tweaking. Carter’s first thought was “Bossier City-Shreveport Rouxgaroux,” but that was too long. Then, he considered the “Red River Rouxgaroux.”

“I called some friends and consultants and asked, ‘How does this play?’ ‘Red River’ didn’t play nationally with our National Arena League footprint. Nobody could really put their finger on what ‘Red River’ meant. We sent ‘Louisiana Rougaroux’ down to Baton Rouge to the lieutenant governor’s office. They liked it. They like the old gold (color). They liked the fleur-de-lis. They liked ‘Louisiana.’ We’re the only arena football team in Louisiana, and we’re going to make it successful right here in Bossier City-Shreveport.”

Carter says he and his family are making a significant personal investment in both money and time, and are using the highly successful Savannah Bananas baseball/entertainment team as a blueprint.

“We’re going to have a fan experience, and a football game is going to break out in the middle of it. We’re going to have fun. It’s going to be a safe environment…You’re going to see some of the greatest athletes we’ve seen in our region, and the nation, playing arena football. It’s going to be a good, wholesome, family-friendly experience. With that equation, I feel as deeply as I possibly can that Shreveport-Bossier, the Ark-La-Tex, and even Louisiana will step up, and we can produce something like we’ve seen before in the heyday of the (Shreveport) Captains, and the heyday of the (Bossier-Shreveport) Battle Wings.”

To learn more about the Louisiana Rouxgaroux, you may visit geauxrouxgaroux.com.