Frequently Asked Questions

Black Bear Sports Group was created to make hockey more accessible and to create new and improved pathways for hockey players to achieve their desired goals in juniors, collegiate or professional levels of the sport. We have put thousands of children on the ice for little to no cost, saved many rinks from closure across the Northeast and Midwest, offered thousands of children free programs like Take a Shot at Hockey, and achieved a youth participation growth rate that is more than double the national average. We have also pioneered similar products for adults, allowing them to try hockey for the first time at little to no cost.

From day one, our goal has been to provide limitless opportunities for the next generation of hockey players and to be a safeguard for the sport.

Black Bear Sports Group is a private company owned by a group of individuals. Black Bear’s mission is to save ice rinks and keep them operating for the communities that depend on them. Our leadership team has a deep passion for hockey and affordable youth sports, and our focus is how to keep ice rinks open and to grow the sport of hockey.

Black Bear Sports Group is not a private equity firm, nor is it owned, controlled, or managed by private equity investors or a private equity firm. There has been confusion between Blackstreet Capital Holdings (a holding company) and Blackstreet Capital Management (formerly a private equity company). Blackstreet Capital Management has no ownership interest or involvement in Black Bear Sports Group.

We encourage lawmakers to invest in building new ice rinks. Black Bear owns/operates only 47 (3%) ice rinks out of the approximately 1,700 ice rinks in the United States. Of those 1,700 rinks, 557 are owned by municipalities, 660 are owned by private investors and the balance are owned by schools, colleges or seasonal operators. Without private ownership, hockey will slowly die unless government invests in new buildings to help grow the sport. Rinks are closing in the Midwest and Northeast two to three times faster than new rinks are being opened – a terrible long-term trend for the sport. Black Bear is a small player and without additional support from government or other private operators, ice hockey is at risk long term of losing places to play.

Black Bear is a strong advocate of youth sports access and affordability and supports thoughtful discussion about these issues. We share justifiable concerns about the cost of youth sports and have always been committed to keeping costs down. That is why we sponsor hockey programs for little or no cost and develop no travel house leagues to provide families with more affordable options. In the 2025-26 season, Black Bear put 3,300 kids on the ice for free and had over 5,000 players in our ultra-low cost learn-to-play hockey program. Integral to our focus on affordability is our commitment to full pricing transparency to ensure families can choose what published program offerings work best for their financial capacity. We encourage other rinks and clubs to start doing so as well.

Our focus is simple - keep ice rinks open and get more children on the ice. Due to our grow the game initiatives, we have been able to invest in our people, our buildings and our programs which has led to a participation growth rate that is more than four times the national average. Our mission is to be a safeguard for the sport, today and always.

In 20 percent of our BBSG rinks, we have partnered with well-run nonprofit clubs after purchasing these rinks and are proud to say that they continue to thrive and deliver a quality youth hockey product for kids. In other cases, when non-profit clubs struggle to uphold standards of excellence, Black Bear will establish its own clubs to improve and expand programing, grow participation, and give all players and families a consistent experience with professional coaches. Black Bear teams frequently excel on the ice, including several that have made (and won) the USA Hockey National Tournament. Black Bear has also pioneered low-cost, no-travel hockey in a number of its rinks to keep play accessible and affordable for every kind of player.

Black Bear is a very small participant in every state in which it operates. There are over 1,700 ice rinks in the US, and Black Bear operates 47 – less than 3% of the rinks in the country. For example, in Michigan, Black Bear has 9 rinks of 100, in Eastern PA, 4 of 30, in Western PA, 4 of 25, in New Jersey, 8 of 40 and in Connecticut, 5 of 50. There is another ice rink, club or league within 30 minutes of every Black Bear rink so families have a choice.

No. Black Bear owns just 30% of teams in our leagues, and we have ensured that each league is represented fairly by all team leadership in its decision-making as Black Bear is a minority on the Board of Directors of the leagues. In addition, each club signs one-year agreements for the leagues and is free to transition to other leagues in the area at the end of the season. There is always another club, league or rink within 30 minutes of every Black Bear rink.

Black Bear was founded as a passion project by hockey-loving individuals. We reinvest virtually all available funds into the business. Ice rinks, especially aging rinks all require constant repairs, maintenance and capital investment or they will fail.

Black Bear does not buy distressed rinks to strip or flip properties. On the contrary, we often step in after years of financial losses, poor maintenance, and the real possibility of permanent closure, only to save these rinks from extinction. Without Black Bear’s investment, these rinks would likely be turned into data centers, apartment buildings, or other more profitable uses. To demonstrate our dedication to this purpose, Black Bear has turned down countless offers to sell individual rinks for alternate uses and its former CEO took zero compensation for the 10-year term during which he ran the business. In short, Black Bear is structured for the very long term to ensure families continue to have a place to play hockey and skate.

Black Bear grew its player participation 9% last season (largely in declining states), while hockey has only grown 2% in total nationwide in the past seven years. We achieve this growth by investing in people, players and programs, particularly through our free Take a Shot at Hockey (TASH) program and its low-cost Learn to Play Hockey (LTPH) program. The TASH program put 3,300 players on the ice for free this past season, and the LTPH program put 5,000 kids on the ice for very low cost this past season. Black Bear has also pioneered low- cost, no-travel hockey in a number of its rinks to keep play accessible for every kind of player.

Case Studies

• In Southern Michigan, five ice rinks have closed since 2019, and no new rinks have opened. The only rink slated to reopen is the rink Black Bear saved in Kalamazoo, which otherwise faced closure and permanent loss to the community.
• In Pennsylvania, two rinks closed in Pittsburgh, three rinks closed in greater Philadelphia and one closed in central Pennsylvania. In Harrisburg, one operator owned two ice arenas, Twin Ponds East and Twin Ponds West. Black Bear purchased Twin Ponds East, and it continues to operate today as a cornerstone of the community, where kids and families can come together to skate year-round. Twin Ponds West has been converted into a church.
• In New Jersey, three rinks have closed, and only one has opened due to a municipality investing almost $40 million to build the rink.

The real threat to youth hockey is rink closures, shrinking ice availability and rising operational costs with no plan to address these problems. Black Bear is making sure that does not happen.

In its facilities, Black Bear invests heavily in maintenance and repairs that keep everyone safe both on the ice and throughout the rink. There can be a lot of hidden danger with ice rinks because of the equipment and technology required to keep the ice in good shape, and we have individuals at every rink in charge of those safety precautions. Black Bear has invested over $20 million in its rinks combined in the past three years.

We also strictly follow USA Hockey’s coaching and SafeSport training requirements, ensuring all coaches have the proper certification and background checks to be present at our rinks and as leaders of our teams.

At any time, families can contact rink management, regional leadership, or a dedicated national director of youth hockey whose sole job is to look out for the almost 10,000 youth hockey players in our rinks. BBSG has a central support team, a formal feedback process and direct communication channels for parents. We take every concern seriously and respond promptly to give families the best experience possible.

While stay-to-play is not utilized in the majority of Black Bear’s activities, some of Black Bear’s leagues utilize our stay-to-play option, and in others, we provide an optional hotel service for families. When utilizing stay-to-play, we follow similar guidelines as USA Hockey, the official national governing board for ice hockey in the United States. USA Hockey’s stay-to-play policy can be found on Page 16 of its Tournament Guidebook. Black Bear charges a penalty substantially below the $5,000 USA Hockey penalty for failure to adhere to the policy.  Black Bear also allows local teams a complete exemption from stay-to play while USA Hockey charges a penalty even to local teams.

In general, bringing everyone together in the same hotel is a fun bonding experience for players and families and a key part of hockey culture. Even when stay-to play is not required, we see a significant number of our families utilize our hotel service so they can connect with other families and not have to worry about lodging details.

Our junior hockey tryout camps—most notably our USHL team, the Youngstown Phantoms—allow us to identify incredible uncommitted and undrafted talent that may be a good fit for any one of our many junior hockey teams. Playing for Youngstown is an entirely free experience for players. The camp provides an invaluable service to the players as we typically have 20-30 NCAA Division I scouts in attendance. Most camp participants choose to stay at the designated hotel through stay-to-play, and those arrangements, both financially an developmentally, contribute to the betterment of the program as a whole, which parents and players expect to be of the highest quality.

Yes, of course! Parents are always welcome to record videos and take photos of their own child during games and practices. Capturing the most exciting moments of our children’s play is an important part of youth sports, and we have never proposed taking that away.

The only restriction is livestreaming, broadcasting, simulcasting, or any other form of transmitting full games or practices. When it comes to transmitting games or practices, we follow the same guidelines as USA Hockey, the official national governing board for ice hockey in the United States. USA Hockey’s broadcasting policy can be found on page 15-16 of its Tournament Guidebook. USA Hockey rules impose a $1,000 fine on the offending party’s hockey club and removal of the offender from the venue. Black Bear has no fine, nor would Black Bear remove someone from their rinks for violating their streaming policy.

Allowing this kind of broadcasting of other children or players is a significant safety risk given that it is impossible for our rinks, leagues, and teams to ensure that everyone on camera has given consent, especially young children and their parents. We’re committed to making sure our policies are applied clearly, consistently, and respectfully across all rinks, so families can focus on enjoying the game. There are no penalties or any impact on the standings if you livestream a game – you will simply be asked to stop doing so as it is a safety risk and a violation of the law to do so without consent of the participants.

In 2025, a third-party streaming provider in Canada broadcast children at a summer camp without proper safeguards and demonstrated how easily risks can arise when livestreaming minors without strict controls. That same company is being sued by another group for broadcasting without their consent.

Yes, absolutely - as long as it is not broadcasted, live streamed or simulcasted.

Yes, we obtain the consent of all organizations or the participants directly. Adults sign for themselves and their players. If we don’t have consent, we don’t broadcast those games.

Black Bear TV follows strict procedures that protect players and meet legal consent requirements which clubs, players and their parents sign when joining a league/team that is broadcasted on Black Bear TV.

A parent streaming on their phone cannot ensue:

• Every child’s family has consented to where that stream is being broadcasted
• The stream is secure
• The footage won’t be downloaded, redistributed, or misused
• Compliance with league, insurance, NIL, and privacy rules

Parents are encouraged and always welcome to record their own child.

We approach these situations on a case-by-case basis, but parents will be asked politely to follow the safety policy. A player and their team will not be punished in the standings as falsely reported.

Black Bear TV is an official streaming platform that offers high quality, secure viewing options for families. Full pricing can be found at: https://blackbearsports.tv/packages. It is a value add for families and completely optional.

Subscription options include:

• Basic Monthly: $25.99 per month
• Premium Monthly: $36.99 per month
  o Includes two logins usable simultaneously from different locations (i.e. two for one
  price)
• Add-on private leagues for a supplemental fee
• Pay-per-game and annual options also available
• These prices are below the competition’s cost, including USA Hockey TV which costs $29.99 per month for a basic plan, and $59.99 per month for the insider plan. USA Hockey TV also prohibits parent streaming, particularly at their National Championships.

Families benefit from:

• 30-day on-demand playback
• Downloadable games
• Highlight clipping and sharing
• DVR controls (pause, rewind, replay)

Our pricing is typically below comparable competitors, and we ensure it aligns with prior streaming offerings at each rink.

Parents are free to share the clips they capture of their children on social media. The only restriction is livestreaming, broadcasting or simulcasting games or practices, which violates safety and privacy policies.

BBSG recently introduced a $49 membership fee for Foundry Adult Hockey League participation, which replaces the need for players to have a separate USA Hockey membership, which is a higher cost. The fee covers the same insurance that USA Hockey provides but also provides for a national standings page and allows for our teams to be eligible for the Foundry National Championship, the first of its kind adult league national championship. USA Hockey expressly prohibits participants from having any form of national championship so in order to put on this amazing event for our families, we had no choice but to have our players register and be insured outside of USA Hockey.

Not at all. Every market we operate in has other rinks within a 30-minute drive, giving families the freedom to choose what fits them best. BBSG always prices its programs competitively or below nearby options to keep hockey accessible and many of our programs allow kids to try and play hockey for little to no cost, like our Take a Shot at Hockey program.

The Vipers were mismanaged financially, had $250,000 per year of unexplained expenses that were likely payments to its “volunteer” management, and were losing over $100,000 per year, causing them to take out loans to operate. Their participation declined 24% in the years prior to Black Bear purchasing the Pittsburgh Ice Arena and as a result the rink was losing money.

During the first two years of ownership, Black Bear tried to work with the Vipers to grow their program and participation, but they refused to explain their $250,000 of aberrant expenses and their participation dropped further – from 14 teams to 8, yet the $250,000 remained constant. Essentially, Black Bear had to start its own club in order to save the rink and put it on strong financial footing. The other club in that rink, the Pittsburgh Stars, remains a strong and valued tenant and partner. The Vipers had three other non-Black Bear rinks in the area to choose from, but no one wanted this failing club.

This was a very similar situation. The Kalamazoo rink was closed and about to be re-purposed when Black Bear purchased it. The rink’s financial distress and closure was due in large part due to KOHA’s $475,000 in salaries they were paying their staff which is ten to twenty times typical salaries for non-profits in Michigan. Black Bear tried to work with KOHA to help them restructure, invest that money in growth of the game initiatives, and collaborate with our staff, but KOHA was only interested in speaking to the press. In order to save this closed rink that was historically losing money,

Black Bear had no choice but to start its own economically sustainable club. KOHA fortunately had other nearby options and is still operating in Kalamazoo. Black Bear is proud that 50% of its Pittsburgh rinks and 33% of its Michigan rinks have non-profit clubs as their primary occupant.

Black Bear Sports Group is always looking for opportunities to save and revitalize rinks. We feel very grateful that we can keep rinks open that are on the verge of collapse and ensure they are the cornerstone of their communities for generations to come.