Introducing the Binghamton Black Bears

The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) and Carousel Sports, LLC are excited to announce the

immediate return of professional hockey to Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton!

An expansion team named the Binghamton Black Bears has agreed to terms with the league and the

arena and will commence play this coming season joining several local rivals in the Federal

Prospects Hockey League. The team’s majority owner is Andreas Johansson, who also owns the

Watertown Wolves in the same league.

The FPHL has shown substantial growth over the last few years, and recently teams in Carolina,

Columbus and Elmira have made successful moves from higher divisions, to achieve success in the FPHL.

The league has been able to attract fans in large part due to the community involvement of the players

and teams, affordable tickets, and a more open, physical style of hockey.

“We are incredibly excited to place an expansion team in a market with such tremendous hockey history

as Binghamton. Our business model is based on affordable entertainment for the whole family, and our

fans tend to love the community involvement of our players, as well as our “old school” style of hockey

– fast, physical, and hard-hitting, but with plenty of skill as well. If you look at where the league is today,

compared to just a few years ago, it is incredible to see how far we have come, and the tremendous

success we have seen in all these new markets”, said Andreas Johansson.

Chris Marion: ……

“I want to thank Chris Marion, the county executive, and the entire board, for working with us in such an

expeditious manner in order to make sure the great fans of Broome County do not have to go another

winter without pro hockey. We also could not have made this happen without the support of the FPHL

board of governors, and commissioner Don Kirnan. When I first came across this opportunity, I knew it

was something that we had to jump on right away, and we could not be more thrilled”, continued

Johansson.

One large benefit to fans in Broome County are the lower ticket prices, with season tickets starting from

as low as $10 per game, and single tickets will be priced very competitively too, in an effort to attract

more families, as well as students, and “first-time” visitors to a professional hockey game.

Recent success stories have seen teams in Winston-Salem, Columbus (GA), and Elmira all average a

higher attendance in the FPHL, as opposed to the ECHL or SPHL, showing that fans, new and old, seem

to appreciate the product the FPHL puts out there, Commissioner Don Kirnan: “We are incredibly happy to be placing an expansion franchise in Binghamton. A city with such rich hockey history and great fans, we are certain our style of hockey will get fans coming to the arena.”

The new ownership group are currently working to transition former Devils’ employees to join the new

company and will place an early focus on reaching out to all current corporate partners and season

ticket holders.

“We want to introduce ourselves and our product to as many fans and partners as we possibly can, and

we look forward to working with the great people on the ground here, in order to be able to do so”, said

Andreas Johansson.

The team is also set to start recruitment for a variety of roles, and look forward to announcing the first

head coach, as well as hockey personnel shortly.

To best keep up on the developments, please visit www.binghamtonblackbears.com and you may also

reach the new team by phone 602.722.7367 or by email info@binghamtonblackbears.com Social media profiles have also

been set up, and are as follows Facebook: www.facebook.com/BinghamtonBlackBears, Instagram

@BinghamtonBlackBears, Twitter @BinghamtonBB