A Look Back: Over three decades of covering the business of sports (of all kinds)

Provided Photo / Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs were originally affiliated with the Florida Marlins, and the uniform featured what were then the team’s trademark teal colors.

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By Peter Van Allen

Mainebiz is not a sports publication, but over three decades the publication has covered the business of an array of sports, from Double-A baseball and G League basketball to curling and pickleball.

The Portland Sea Dogs took the field the same year as Mainebiz, 1994, so coverage started when the team was affiliated with the Florida Marlins (now Miami Marlins) and has continued as the club realigned with the Boston Red Sox. More recently, Mainebiz has covered efforts to renovate the team’s longtime home, Hadlock Field. Slugger, the team mascot, has been featured on these pages many times over the years.

The Maine Celtics, the G League affiliate of the Boston Celtics, were until 2021 known as the Maine Red Claws. The team’s president, Dajuan Eubanks, was featured in a Q&A in 2014. Last year, Mainebiz honored Alicia Milne, director of corporate partnerships, as a 40 Under 40.

Coverage of hockey has been a bit more sporadic, but has covered the exit of the former American Hockey League’s Portland Pirates after the 2016 season, and the 2018 debut of the East Coast Hockey League’s Maine Mariners (now an affiliate of the Boston Bruins).

Mainebiz has covered efforts to launch a USL professional soccer team to Maine.

But there’s also been a host of smaller sports covered.

Mainebiz has covered celebrity golf tournaments. We’ve written about the fundraising aspects of the Dempsey Challenge, Tri for the Cure, TD Bank Beach to Beacon and Drive Fore Kids Charity Golf Tournament. We’ve written about the economic impact of the Millinocket Marathon and Gorham Bank Maine Marathon.

We wrote about the creation of the Belfast Curling Club. We’ve had a few stories about the rise of pickleball. We’ve written about the Maine Pond Hockey Classic — and, this year, the canceling of the event due to lack of ice.

We’re not a sports publication, but we’ve definitely covered sports.

Fun fact

In 2019, sporting events contributed $155.6 million to the Maine economy and attracted 253,071 out-of-state visitors, according to a study conducted by the University of Southern Maine’s Center for Business and Economic Research. Some 55% of the people who attended and participated in the events came from out of state.