Md.’s Black Bear Sports Group acquires 23rd ice arena

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Blackstreet Capital Holdings, an affiliate of Bethesda-based Black Bear Sports Group Inc., has acquired Twin Ponds East Arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, officials announced Thursday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The arena features two NHL-sized ice sheets and one smaller training sheet, a café, pro shop and athletic turf designed for baseball training. The facility is home to 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.

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.

Black Bear Sports Group is a privately held company formed by 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.

It 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 footprint 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.