Harrisburg, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–An affiliate of Black Bear Sports Group, Inc. (“Black Bear”) has acquired Twin Ponds East Arena in Harrisburg, PA (the “Arena”). The Arena features two NHL ice sheets and one smaller training sheet, a café, pro shop, and athletic turf designed for baseball training. The Arena is home too many figure skaters and youth hockey players in the area and frequently hosts youth hockey tournaments and central Pennsylvania middle school and high school games throughout the year. Black Bear, the largest owner/operator of ice rinks in the U.S., was founded by CEO Murry Gunty in 2015.
“The Harrisburg region has a rich hockey history and we are excited to continue building and supporting ice sports in the area,” said Murry Gunty, Founder and CEO of Black Bear. “Twin Ponds fits perfectly in our network of ice rinks including York, PA, Northern Maryland, Delaware and the Philadelphia region and in particular this rink will be a great fit for our new league, the Atlantic Hockey Federation and for our tournament businesses.”
Twin Ponds East Arena historically has served as home ice to the Hershey Jr. Bears Youth Hockey Club, the Capital City Vipers Youth Hockey Club and the Central Pennsylvania Figure Skating Club.
“We hope to expand on the figure skating, learn-to-skate and learn-to-play hockey programming to grow skating and hockey in the Capital Region,” said Ryan Scott, Vice President of Black Bear. “We also look forward to using our network and existing clubs too grow AA hockey in the region and present youth players with college hockey ambitions the ability to access our network of junior hockey franchises.”
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 and 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 has the ability to acquire healthy and stable arenas, but also to turn around under-managed or under-performing facilities. The largest owner/operator of ice rinks in the U.S., Black Bear’s footprints totals 23 facilities across the United States with 42 sheets of indoor ice, three indoor turf fields, 15 youth hockey clubs and three Junior “A” hockey franchises in the United States Hockey League, North American Hockey League and Eastern Hockey League.