Hockey moms like me sacrifice our time, wallet, and sanity to drive kids all over the Midwest to sit inside a freezer in the dead of winter and watch our precious babies glide around with blades on their feet and sticks in their hands, all while dodging pucks, getting shoved into walls, and occasionally fighting the opposing team.
It’s all worth it for the moment your kid scores the game-winning goal or another hat trick.
When your kid gets off the ice after one of those moments, the first questions is always: “Did you get my goal?”
Now imagine you can’t record those moments.
You don’t have to imagine it if Black Bear Sports Group has quietly acquired your rink over the last couple years.
Black Bear Sports Group has purchased 42 ice rinks around the Midwest, including seven in Michigan, in an effort to “cut costs” and save financially distressed rinks from closing. Their mission statement says they are committed to making sure “ice sports remain accessible, competitive, and thriving” for generations to come.
One of their first moves upon acquisition was a new policy: no streaming of games, practices, or players, citing “privacy concerns.” Parents were offered a subscription to the Black Bear Sports TV for video and livestream at a range of $20 a game or up to $300 a year for a premium subscription.
While I appreciate the efforts to keep kids out of the public eye, hockey players’ physical features are completely unidentifiable underneath layers of equipment. And since there’s no restriction on who can purchase a subscription, can’t anyone theoretically pay for a subscription and watch the games anyway?
It seems like this was nothing more than a cash grab. Parents quickly spoke up against the change.
Black Bear backtracked in November and released two statements on their streaming policy, first clarifying their “restrictions” to streaming, broadcasting, and “simulcasting.” A week later, they clarified the policy again, stating “we ask families do not broadcast, livestream, or simulcast” games. They clarified they were updating contracts to reflect their policy and respect families’ rights to record their kids’ sporting events.
Black Bear’s streaming policy is certainly not consistent with their promise to cut costs, and it’s concerning to think about what could happen if they continue to take over rinks and impose more costs on hockey families, leaving families with no choices in a market that they could eventually have a monopoly on.
Black Bear’s philosophy explicitly says they will focus on metropolitan areas with “compelling demographics.” What does that mean?
Are they only interested in helping rinks in wealthy, high-income communities where parents can afford the sport and will pay higher prices? Sure sounds like it. How do they play to invest in “highest quality facilities” and hire the “best in class” managers, all while keeping ice sports affordable?
Michigan hockey parents are certainly skeptical, and I’m enjoying our games at publicly owned Yost more than ever.
Anna Hoffman is a lifelong Michigander and Ann Arbor mom of 3. You can follow her on X and Instagram @shoesonplease.
