🔒On the Record: Maine Mariners owner sets sights on championship trophy

Dexter Paine and his wife Susan are the owners of the Maine Mariners hockey team and minority investors in the Portland Hearts of Pine soccer startup. Paine, a lifelong skier who splits his time between New York and Switzerland, grew up in North Conway, N.H., and is the chairman of Paine Schwartz Partners, an agribusiness-focused private equity firm. He sat down with Mainebiz to talk about his aspirations for the Mariners and attracting more young people to the sport. Mainebiz: What sparked your interest in these two Maine teams? Dexter Paine: I’m a diehard Boston Bruins fan, so having the Mariners as the Bruins affiliate was added incentive. Our interest in the Hearts of Pine was sparked from being in Portland and having the opportunity to go to games and getting to know [founder] Gabe Hoffman-Johnson and [President] Kevin Schohl. MB: What is your primary goal for the Mariners competitively? DP: Our goal is to win the Kelly Cup — we want to be the best ECHL team in the country. MB: Will a championship help sell more tickets? DP: Fans want to see their team win. But in minor league sports, there’s lot of things that are important. The fan experience needs to be good and safe so you can feel comfortable taking your kids there, the food needs to be good and you need to make sure that your branding is something that people people identify with clearly. MB: When you bought the Mariners in 2024, was a name change ever suggested? DP: Someone asked me, ‘Do you guys want to be the Portland Bruins?’ And I said, ‘I would be shot if I told people that we were the Portland Bruins.’ We are the Maine Mariners, and that’s the team that our fans identify with. We’re really proud of being a Bruins affiliate, but we are the Maine Mariners. MB: What financial returns are you looking for from your investment? DP: Susan and I have made a commitment at the Mariners, which is any profits we make in the business we’re plowing back in. We’ve established a foundation whose focus will be youth sports, learn-to-skate-programs and youth hockey. We also want to make the Mariners the best place for a young hockey player to play — with great housing, coaching and facilities. We don’t want to lose money, but anything we earn goes back into the team and community. MB: What’s the plan for the proposed practice facility in Scarborough? DP: We’re working with the Downs and Hebert Construction on coming up with a structure that allows us to build that facility and hopefully have third parties own it and we’ll be the master tenant. The hard part is making sure that the numbers work for us or for any investor. MB: What opportunities are there for private equity investment in hockey? DP: At our recent ECHL board of governors meeting, private equity investment was a major topic. We actually have formed a committee that’s going to look at private equity ownership and governance and look at putting together a long-term strategic plan for the league. We’re full right now so no more teams are available, but let’s sit down in six months. I think there’s a place for private equity money in helping to build leagues, teams and facilities. MB: What’s your take on the ECHL’s new collective bargaining agreement with players? DP: The CBA was a very fair agreement for both the owners and the players. MB: And the 20% salary increase for players? DP: I think that’s very appropriate. No one is getting rich playing the ECHL and we need to make sure that athletes can earn an appropriate living wage. MB: What other challenges do you see ahead? DP: We need to continue to put an entertaining product on the ice, and it is up to us to continue to innovate to provide new and better experiences for our families so they keep coming back. We also have an obligation to make sure that we continue to attract young people and get kids involved. That’s why we’re a sponsor of the Maine Pond Hockey Classic — it’s those kinds of events that keep young people active and get them engaged in the sport.