PORTLAND, Maine — A new minor league hockey team coming to Maine will now provide a lot more money for its county-owned stadium home in Portland.
The Portland Press Herald reports the new deal will benefit both the taxpayer-backed Cross Insurance Arena and its managing company Comcast Spectacor. Spectacor announced in June that it had purchased an Alaskan hockey team to play in Portland for the 2018-19 season.
Portland lost its minor league team when the Portland Pirates were sold and moved to Springfield, Massachusetts.
The loss of the Pirates put a big hole in the arena’s revenue stream, which has been down since the renovation was completed in 2015. Having the new hockey team play its 36 home games at the arena is expected to provide more than $162,000 in revenue.