Basingstoke Ice Rink (or Planet Ice Basingstoke) is an older rink around a 5-minute drive west of Basingstoke town centre. It is based at Basingstoke Leisure Park, whose facilities include a cinema, a pool, a hotel, and a variety of places to eat and drink.
The rink is home to a number of ice hockey teams, including Basingstoke Bison of the NIHL National League. It is just one of 41 ice rinks in the UK that are home to competitive ice hockey teams.
Information For Planet Ice Basingstoke
Basingstoke Ice Rink Parking
Basingstoke Ice Rink has plenty of free parking; we haven’t ever known it to fill up. If you can’t park in the area at the front of the building, then the next best option is to park behind the arena. Steps from the rear parking area will take you down the side of the arena to the entrance.
Basingstoke Bison Ice Hockey Team
Basingstoke Bison usually plays in the UK’s NIHL National League. However, the team will skip the 2023-2024 season while Planet Ice works on rink refurbishments. The team aims to return to the league for the 2024-2025 season.
The NIHL National is a semi-professional league with eleven teams, ten based in England and one in Scotland. This league is the second highest in the UK, with only the EIHL (Elite Ice Hockey League) playing at a higher level.
NIHL National Teams
| Bees Ice Hockey Club | Raiders Ice Hockey Club |
| Bristol Pitbulls | Sheffield Steeldogs |
| Hull Seahawks | Solway Sharks |
| Leeds Knights | Swindon Wildcats |
| Milton Keynes Lightning | Telford Tigers |
| Peterborough Phantoms |
Usually, the Basingstoke Bison would play in this league, but the team has pulled out of the 2023-2024 season due to rink refurbishments.
The season runs from September to March/April, and the teams will play two (sometimes three) games a week, one home and one away. The most common days for games are Saturday and Sunday, but the team will play some on Fridays or mid-week.
These games include those played in the league and for the Autumn Cup. Most of the cup games are played early in the season.
The league season typically finishes in early April with a playoff weekend where the top 4 teams fight for the league championship.
Basingstoke Bison Ice Hockey Team Contacts
| Basingstoke Bison | Contacts & Social Media |
|---|---|
| Website | — |
| hello@bstokebison.co.uk | |
| Phone | 01256-355266 |
| Basingstoke Bison | |
| @BisonHockey | |
| @bstokebisonofficial | |
| You Tube | — |
| HOME GAME TICKETS | Buy Tickets |
Basingstoke Buffalo Ice Hockey Team
Basingstoke Buffalo is an ice hockey team playing in the UK’s NIHL 2 South (Wilkinson) division. The team is based at Planet Ice Basingstoke.
The amateur NIHL 2 league is the fourth-highest in the UK, behind the EIHL, NIHL National and NIHL 1 leagues. Thirteen teams compete in the southern division (see below), and nine teams compete in the northern division.
NIHL 2 South (Wilkinson) Teams
The teams charge for entry to games, generally £5-£10 for a non-concessionary adult and reduced rates for children and OAPs.
NIHL 2 South teams compete for the regular season title, the playoff title, and the Wilkinson Cup. The regular season runs from September to late March, and the season concludes in early April with a playoff weekend for the semi-final and final games.
How Cold Is Basingstoke Ice Rink?
If you haven’t been to a hockey game before, you need to know that ice rinks are cold places (not a surprise!). And the closer you are to the ice, the colder you will be. Also, hockey rinks in the UK aren’t heated, so temperatures in the arena drop in line with outside temperatures.
For those with some experience of UK rinks, we would rank the Basingstoke ice rink as colder than average. In fact, it is probably the coldest rink in this league.
Basingstoke Ice Rink Seating & Away Fan Block
The away fans block at Planet Ice Basingstoke is block G.
Basingstoke Bison game tickets give you assigned seating, and if you aren’t tied to sitting with the visiting fans, then our advice for choosing seats is as follows:
- For the best views, sit as close to the centre ice as possible and avoid section F.
- We find there is a better overall view if you avoid the first couple of rows of seating.
- If you sit in sections D, E, F or G, you will be cut off from the main entrance/bar areas whenever the teams are on their benches. You can walk out of the back door and around the arena to the main entrance, but it’s inconvenient.
11 Best Ice Rink Activities To Do At Basingstoke Ice Rink
Watching an ice hockey game is just one of many things to do at Basingstoke Ice Rink. There is a wide range of ice rink activities on offer, including:
- Public ice skating sessions
- Ice skating lessons
- Disabled ice skating lessons
- Show and skate lessons
- Ice hockey lessons
- Join a recreational ice hockey team.
- Ice dancing or figure skating
- Speed skating
- Ice skating birthday parties
- Try an ice disco with music, a DJ and disco lights.
- Watch an ice show.
