Black Bear Sports Group Adds Fourth Michigan Location

Blackstreet Capital Holdings affiliate Black Bear to manage arena in Detroit

Brighton, MI – An affiliate of Black Bear Sports Group, Inc. (“Black Bear”) has taken over the operations of the arena commonly known as the Kensington Valley Ice House (the “Arena”).  The Arena features three ice sheets, a bar/restaurant and a concessions area. The Arena is home to the Kensington Valley Hockey Association, Brighton High School, South Lyon Unified, and various other local high schools, clubs and adult hockey leagues. Black Bear, the largest owner-operator of ice rinks in the U.S., was founded by CEO Murry Gunty in 2015.

​“Detroit-East Lansing is a powerhouse hockey and figure skating market and we are proud to now operate four facilities and ten sheets of ice in the region,” said Murry Gunty, Founder and CEO of Black Bear. “Hockey is a way of life in Brighton and the surrounding communities, and we look forward to providing customers with a first-class facility for many years to come.”

The Arena is located east of Brighton, right off I-96, and is situated between Black Bear’s other facilities in East Lansing and Ann Arbor.  All existing programming at the Arena will continue as planned and Black Bear is pleased to retain the employees at the rink.

“We look forward to working with the clubs and organizations based out of Kensington Valley,” said Ryan Scott, Vice President at Black Bear. “KVHA and Brighton High School are very strong programs with robust community support. We look forward to sharing our hockey resources and supporting the winning traditions these clubs have established.”

The transaction closed on February 1st, 2024.

About Black Bear Sports Group, Inc.

Black Bear Sports Group, Inc. is a privately held company formed by Murry Gunty and Blackstreet Capital Holdings, LLC in 2015 that seeks investments in sports and entertainment facilities, teams, and youth sports events. Black Bear arenas are clean, professionally managed, and offer world-class recreational programs. Black Bear focuses on ice arenas in metropolitan areas with compelling demographics, markets with a National Hockey League club presence, and arenas with existing youth hockey clubs. Black Bear not only features the ability to acquire healthy and stable arenas but also the expertise required to turn around mismanaged or underperforming facilities. The largest owner/operator of ice arenas in the U.S., Black Bear’s footprint totals 37 facilities across the United States with 72 sheets of indoor ice, 4 indoor turf fields, 34 youth hockey clubs, four hockey leagues (Atlantic Hockey Federation, Atlantic Girls Hockey Federation, Tier 1 Hockey Federation, National Girls Hockey League), two tournament businesses (Defender Hockey Tournaments and The Show Tournaments), seven Junior “A” hockey franchises with membership in the United States Hockey League, North American Hockey League, USPHL NCDC, USPHL Premier and Elite, and the Eastern Hockey League, and Foundry Adult Hockey, the largest adult hockey organization in the USA.