In five lawsuits over 20 years, investors, business partners and other associates have questioned the actions of Scott Branovan, the Michigan regional director for the Black Bear Sports Group. Black Bear is the new owner of the Wings West ice complex in Texas Township.
The lawsuits relate to Branovan’s work managing and operating hockey facilities and programs around the country.
The plaintiffs in a 2010 Pennsylvania case, which accused Branovan, among other parties, of breaching fiduciary duty, ultimately withdrew their lawsuit. But Branovan and an assortment of companies he was associated with were ordered to pay more than $460,000 to investors in a Texas civil case from 2006.
In another lawsuit, which concluded in 2017, Branovan and co-defendant Shawn Black were ordered to pay $250,000 to another co-defendant, though Branovan also won a $35,000 payment from Black. A jury in that case found that Branovan breached a fiduciary duty to the plaintiff.
A 2021 case against Branovan and two other people accused them of breach of fiduciary duty while managing an arena in New York. Branovan was later sued individually in a related case that accused him of taking money for wage-like payments and services without authorization. After the other parties in the lawsuit settled, the plaintiff did not pursue the case against Branovan, according to an attorney for the plaintiff.
In an emailed response to a request for comment on the cases, a spokesperson for a public relations firm that said it represents Black Bear wrote that “Mr. Branovan has never committed any wrongdoing whatsoever, as these were frivolous lawsuits with no merit.”
“Instead,” the spokesperson continued, “He remains focused on saving and revitalizing ice rinks across the Northeast and Midwest to safeguard the sport for generations of hockey players to come.”
As WMUK reported in December, Black Bear Sports Group bought Wings West in October. Branovan is Black Bear’s regional director of operations in Michigan, Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, as well as its senior director of sales and marketing, according to Black Bear Sports’ staff page.
Cases in New York State
The two most recent cases involving Branovan stem from an arena that a company called End 2 End Sports managed near Rochester, New York.
In 2021, the Monroe Community Sports Centre Corporation or MCSCC sued End 2 End, Scott Branovan, and two other people for alleged breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract.
According to Anthony J. Adams, Jr., lawyer for the plaintiff, all defendants filed answers in the case except for Branovan. Adams said the plaintiff could have taken a default judgment against Branovan, but ultimately did not. Instead, they filed a second case, this time just against Branovan, to preserve the option to sue him.
“Without budgetary authorization and without informing Plaintiff’s board of directors, Branovan caused Plaintiff to make unauthorized payments to himself or to others on his behalf, eventually putting himself on Plaintiff’s payroll, from at least April 1, 2013, until his termination as Plaintiff’s managing agent on March 19, 2019,” MCSCC stated in a complaint filed with the State of New York Supreme Court, County of Monroe.
“In this fashion, Branovan collected ‘wages,’ benefits, reimbursement of telephone and other expenses, and other goods and services exceeding $300,000,” it continued.
Then the other parties in the original lawsuit settled and the plaintiff opted not to pursue the case against Branovan, Adams said, noting that the terms of the settlement were private.
Texas investors sue over Wisconsin project
In May 2006, Branovan, a business partner, James Kasten, and various companies associated with each of them were sued in Texas by investors who accused them of breach of contract, common-law fraud and violations of the Texas Security Act. The plaintiffs had invested in an ice arena project in Cudahy, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee.
“Kasten and the Kasten Entities were able to persuade the City of Cudahy and others to participate in the project by lying about their expertise, financial resources, and the availability of financing for the project,” the plaintiffs claimed in a complaint filed in May 2006.
“Sometime in late 2002 or early 2003 Kasten was joined in his efforts by Branovan, who claimed to have expertise in the management of ice hockey and other sports arenas,” the complaint continued.
It added, “although groundbreaking ceremonies were held in April of 2003, Kasten, Branovan and their respective entities were unable to develop the project as they had originally promised because they did not have the financial resources, financing, and expertise claimed.”
In a default judgment later that year, the federal U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ordered Branovan and companies he owned (as well as one company associated with Kasten, Iceport Foundation, Inc.) to repay the investors $461,068.21.
The court issued the judgment after the plaintiffs, in a November 2006 motion for default judgment, asserted that Branovan, his companies and Iceport Foundation, Inc. failed to “plead or otherwise defend as provided by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”
Other cases involving Branovan
In a 2010 case that the plaintiffs ultimately withdrew, Branovan and other parties were sued for alleged breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Among other things, the plaintiffs accused them of neglecting to pay operating bills while managing the Johnstown Chiefs hockey team in Pennsylvania.
The defendants counter-claimed that when their managerial contract began, the plaintiffs were already in close to $200,000 of debt that they failed to pay off. According to documents from the Court of Common Pleas of Cambria County, the plaintiff withdrew that case in late 2011.
In a 2015 case regarding a company called No Limits Education and Athletic Development, Inc., Branovan, Shawn Black and Craig Woodcroft — who are described as Branovan’s business partner and a businessman with hockey coaching and teaching expertise, respectively, in a cross-claim filed by Woodcroft — were accused of breaching fiduciary duty against an investor.
In 2017, a jury in the United States District Court, District of Minnesota, found that Branovan made “false or misleading representations of material fact or promises” to the plaintiff; that Branovan knew “the representation or concealment or promise to be false or misleading at the time;” and that Branovan breached a fiduciary duty to the plaintiff.
While Branovan was not ordered to compensate the investor, Woodcroft cross-claimed that Branovan and Black breached fiduciary duty against him.
The court ordered Black and Branovan to pay Woodcroft $250,000. Branovan cross-claimed against Black and was awarded $35,000.
WMUK reached out to Black Bear for comment on the cases discussed in this story. A spokesperson who declined to be named dismissed the lawsuits and suggested Branovan, in his work for various arenas, was simply trying to make sure as many children as possible get to play hockey.
“In no small part due to Mr. Branovan's role, Black Bear is growing youth hockey at more than triple the national rate, working to bring down costs and barriers so more and more kids have the opportunity to fall in love with the game longterm,” the spokesperson wrote.
Branovan did not respond to texts and phone calls requesting comment on the cases.
