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Sports can be one of our biggest community uniters. In a few weeks, go to any high school basketball tournament game and you’ll see it. Little rallies a community’s spirits and mood like success in athletics.

We see it with Portland’s four professional minor league sports teams: hockey’s Maine Mariners, baseball’s Portland Sea Dogs, basketball’s Maine Celtics, and the Portland Hearts of Pine soccer club, the newest entry to the field. Saturday’s night hockey game at Cross Insurance Arena between the Maine Mariners and Trois-Rivieres Lions was a chance to celebrate that.

“You don’t think of competition (amongst each other) at all,” said Kevin Schohl, president and chief business officer of the Hearts of Pine. “We want all four teams in the market to win championships.”

Portland’s strong relationship with minor league sports goes back decades. In October 2024, Portland topped the Sports Business Journal’s list of minor league sports markets for the first time. The list is set to come out again next fall. No city has ever won top honors back-to-back. Portland is making a strong case to be the first.

“We all serve the same purpose, and that’s to develop sports fans in greater Portland, and to support greater Portland,” said Chris Cameron, the Sea Dogs vice president for communications and fan experience.

When the Mariners front office staff met last summer and kicked around promotion ideas for this season, equipment manager Brian McQueen made the suggestion, said Kathryn Horrigan, the team’s director of marketing. How about a different jersey each period, each one honoring one of the other three teams in town?

Brilliant.

The Mariners quickly got approval from each of the other clubs and went about designing the jerseys. The team checked with officials at ECHL HQ to make sure changing jerseys each period was legal, and the league signed off, saying only each jersey had to have the same base color. Since each team wears white at home, that wasn’t a problem.

At a time when bad actors are showing up in our state just to sew chaos and fear, a reminder that community is important is a welcome thing. The four teams share a passionate fan base, and know it. It makes no sense to do anything but support each other.

“The Sports Business Journal ranking, that really resonated with all four teams and with fans of all four teams,” said Evans Boston, the Maine Celtics senior director of public and community relations.

The Mariners warmed up in their regular home jerseys. They came out in the first period honoring the Sea Dogs. In the second, the Celtics. In the third, the Hearts of Pine. In a 7-1 win over the Lions, the Mariners scored at least two goals in each jersey, with three in the Hearts jersey in the third.

Saturday’s jerseys were auctioned off, raising approximately $20,000 for a charity to be determined by all four teams, said Michael Keeley, the Mariners director of media relations and broadcasting. Each has done wonderful work with causes in Maine, including Make-A-Wish and the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. A worthy cause will be found.

“I think if there’s something to say about being in the trenches of working in minor league sports, it can oftentimes be a grind when the season is happening,” Horrigan said. “So I think we all really understand that about each other’s industry, and we want to see the best outcome for our state in general… We all do well if we succeed.”

Before Saturday’s game, representatives from each team participated in a panel discussion about their shared goals, their place in our shared community. During the question and answer portion, Justin Hynes of Oxford thanks the teams for their entertainment each has provided to his family, and how players from the teams have interacted positively with his son.

“It’s really about fan experience for all four teams, and that’s why you’re all doing so well,” Hynes said.

For all the problems we have in Maine, we have it good in so many ways. Having four pro teams in Portland worth celebrating is one of them.