Black Bear Sports Group is committed to strengthening community ice rinks by revitalizing facilities, infrastructure, and programming. We focus on restoring and modernizing arenas so they remain welcoming homes for hockey and skating, and a cornerstone of communities for generations to come.
After the former Wings West facility closed in September 2025 due to a refrigeration system failure, Black Bear Sports Group stepped in to restore operations and preserve a vital hub for the Kalamazoo ice sports community. We are focused on repairing and upgrading critical rink infrastructure while revitalizing the arena as a year-round destination for hockey, skating, and community gathering in Kalamazoo.
BIGGBY® COFFEE Ice Cube - Kalamazoo (Kalamazoo, MI)
- Before Black Bear’s ownership of Pittsburgh Ice Arena, the Tier 2 Vipers Hockey Club was losing over $100k annually with a 24% decline in player participation, while other clubs in the same market were growing. The Vipers incurred loans to cover their inexplicable losses.
- However, the club’s Tier 1 program—then called the Esmark Stars—was successful and fielded nationally competitive teams.
- Black Bear collaborated closely with the Esmark Stars to ensure they could remain operational and thriving, and that team—now called the Pittsburgh Stars—is still active in the arena today.
- In contrast, the Black Bear team made multiple efforts to collaborate with the Vipers to stabilize and improve its programming, participation rates and operating losses, but the club was completely resistant. The Vipers also declined to provide satisfactory explanations regarding more than $250,000 in opaque annual expenses and certain atypical financial obligations reflected in their records.
- The Vipers had three other rinks within 20-30 minutes of Pittsburgh Ice Arena, but no one wanted their failing club. Even as they shrunk to 3 teams and under 50 kids, the $250,000 in unexplained expenses remained.
- To ensure the rink would be economically sustainable and keep its doors open, Black Bear had no choice but to start its own Tier 2 club that operates under our proven Growth of the Game model.
- 20% of Black Bear’s ice rinks across the country have third-party, non-profit grassroots clubs as the primary youth club operating in the building. In Pittsburgh, 50% of Black Bear’s buildings have non-profit grassroots organizations – all of which are growing and successful.
Pittsburgh Ice Arena (New Kensington, PA)
- Jersey Shore Ice Arena is a 3-sheet ice rink in Wall Township, NJ, that needed almost $3 million in repairs. The owner of the rink also controlled the arena’s supposed “non-profit” youth hockey club. The owner defaulted on their bank loan and mismanaged the club’s finances, and the club ran out of money at the start of the season.
- Black Bear stepped in to save the rink from an inevitable closure in 2018, and for the rest of the 2018-2019 season, Black Bear was able to let over 400 families skate for free, all while repairing the ice plant and remodeling the bathrooms and locker rooms.
- Black Bear also found a tenant for the restaurant and the gym and was able to keep the pro-shop in place and operating.
- Today, Jersey Shore Ice Arena is home to 11 high schools, 36 adult league teams, and almost 500 youth hockey players, all of whom may not have had a local club without Black Bear’s intervention.
Jersey Shore Ice Arena (Wall Township, NJ)
- Both Twin Ponds arenas in Harrisburg, PA, were originally owned by an individual, who approached Black Bear in November 2020 about purchasing Twin Ponds East. Black Bear knew that the owner was eager to sell the facilities, no matter what they turned into, so we immediately jumped in to ensure this arena would remain an ice rink.
- The owner ultimately sold Twin Ponds West to a developer, and the rink was quickly replaced with a church.
- The loss of Twin Ponds West permanently reduced the community’s already small available ice capacity, limiting access to ice time for local hockey players, figure skaters, learn-to-skate programs, and community events, making it all the more important for Black Bear to keep Twin Ponds East operational and successful for the Harrisburg community.
Twin Ponds Ice Arena (Harrisburg, PA)
- In August 2020, Black Bear purchased and revitalized Grundy Ice Arena, a municipally owned, 65,000 square-foot, two-sheet facility in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Grundy was historically operated as a community-focused facility supporting two youth hockey clubs (the Grizzlies and the Senators), beginner 8U programs, and ice rentals to seven high schools and a high school league. However, like many municipal rinks, it was losing money at a substantial rate.
- The rink needed significant maintenance and investment when Black Bear purchased it, including ice plant equipment upgrades, structural repairs, and major remodel needs, such as the roof and parking lot.
- There was also over $3.5 million of debt on the facility due to constrained budgets after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Bristol Council President described their collaboration with Black Bear to preserve this rink for the community as a huge win for the borough.
- The rink is in a great downtown Bristol location, and Black Bear has fielded and rejected numerous offers to sell the rink, such that it would be turned into another use, possibly a data center or warehouse, saving this rink in the Philadelphia area. Two other rinks in this region – Old York Road and Wintersport – had already recently closed, depriving this community of needed ice.
Grundy Arena (Bristol, PA)
- In August 2020, BBSG entered into a partnership with the City of York, Pennsylvania to manage and operate York Ice Arena, with Black Bear assuming any future investment needs for the rink. Black Bear pays the City an annual fee, which generates consistent passive cash flow for the City.
- Prior to Black Bear’s management, York Ice Arena was poorly operated and lost a significant amount of money, which ultimately meant huge losses for the city.
- Since Black Bear assumed operations, the rink has become profitable for the city.
- Black Bear has implemented its proven Growth of the Game programming model. The York Learn To Play Hockey (LTPH) participation has grown significantly, supporting the flow of players into the Devils programs.
- From July 2024 to June 2025, York had 243 LTPH participants. From July 2025 to April 2026, York had 412 LTPH participants, representing a 69.5% increase in participation.
- As a result, participation has grown substantially for both the Devils Youth Hockey Club and the Lady Devils Club. In the 2025/26 season, the Devils’ programs increased player signings by 23% compared to the 2024/25 season
York Ice Arena (York, PA)
- In September 2020, BBSG purchased the operations of the Northeast Skate Zone from the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers had leased the arena from the City of Philadelphia. Black Bear assumed all responsibility for capital improvements, repairs and maintenance, and other operating expenses at the arena.
- Black Bear extended the lease in 2024, increasing the payments to the city by almost 5 times, helping the city’s budget. Black Bear also agreed to invest over $1 million dollars to save the rink by repairing the rink’s ice plant and installing a new floor throughout the arena.
- Black Bear’s investment will save this municipal ice rink and preserve ice in a Philadelphia area suburb that has already seen two ice rinks close in recent years.
Northeast Skate Zone (Philadelphia, PA)
At Printscape Arena in Canonsburg, PA, a $2 million project included installing a new chiller and completing a full concrete floor system replacement, both BBSG-funded capital improvements expected to last 20-25 years.
Printscape Arena (Canonsburg, PA)
Black Bear Sports Group reinvested approximately $1 million in a floor system replacement with an expected lifespan of 20 years, helping ensure reliable access to the rink for years to come.