Black Bear Sports Group is the private equity-sponsored organization that purchased Wings West in October and plans to reopen it next year. They’ve allegedly been buying struggling ice rinks and forcing their resident youth hockey teams to pay premiums for in-house services like insurance and game streaming.
That’s according to a report by investigative news outlet The Lever published last month.
The report says that parents are not allowed to record their kids’ games. Instead, they can opt to use Black Bear TV, the company’s streaming service that costs between $25 and $50 per month. Black Bear also charges each player $50 a year for registration and insurance fees.
A source connected with a Kalamazoo ice user group that uses Wings West spoke to WMUK on the condition of anonymity so they don’t jeopardize their relationship with Black Bear. They said that Black Bear has proposed an hourly ice rate that’s 30% more expensive than the previous owner’s rate. For locker room rentals, they plan to charge about twice as much annually.
Black Bear is allegedly forcing the source’s group to purchase their uniforms from a partner in New Jersey called Breakaway Sports – business that, in the past, went to local manufacturers.
They’ve also been asked to tack a brand partnership onto their longtime club name. According to the source, Black Bear has threatened the group with heightened fees if it fails to comply.
At the time of publication, Black Bear Sports Group has not responded to WMUK’s requests for comment by phone and email.
Brad VandenBerg -- managing director of Stadium Management Corporation, which sold Wings West to Black Bear in October -- declined to comment.
