Every November, when the newest list of NHL team values drops, I find myself scrolling straight to the bottom third – not out of cruelty, but curiosity. There’s something strangely fascinating about franchises that keep climbing the financial ladder while stumbling on the ice. And this year, no team embodies that paradox quite like the Buffalo Sabres.
Sitting at number 31 out of 32 teams with a valuation of $1.42 billion, the Sabres somehow managed a 24% year-over-year increase. That’s not a typo. A team that hasn’t sniffed the postseason since 2011 – still carrying the longest active playoff drought in major North American professional sports – just added hundreds of millions in enterprise value. In a world where we’re told winning drives everything, Buffalo is quietly writing a very different story.
The Quiet Billion-Dollar Transformation in Buffalo
Let me put this in perspective. When Terry and Kim Pegula bought the franchise back in 2011, they paid $165 million. That felt like a lot at the time for a small-market team with attendance issues. Fourteen years later, the same franchise is worth nearly nine times that amount. Even adjusting for league-wide inflation in valuations, that’s an extraordinary return.
But here’s what really caught my eye: the Sabres generated $176 million in revenue last season while posting a respectable $14 million in EBITDA. For context, that operating profitability would make plenty of mid-sized companies jealous. And they did it with an arena that was, on average, only 84% full.
Breaking Down the Numbers That Matter
Let’s be honest – most fans don’t think in terms of EBITDA margins or debt-to-value ratios. But these are the metrics that have turned sports franchises into some of the most coveted assets on the planet.
- Valuation: $1.42 billion (31st in NHL)
- Year-over-year growth: +24% (one of the league’s highest)
- Revenue: $176 million
- EBITDA: $14 million
- Debt ratio: just 4% of enterprise value
- Average attendance: 15,975 (0% change year-over-year)
That debt figure deserves special attention. At only 4%, the Pegulas have one of the cleanest balance sheets in professional sports. While other owners leverage up to buy their teams or fund arena projects, Buffalo operates with remarkable financial discipline. It’s boring in the sexiest way possible.
The Pegula Effect: More Than Just Deep Pockets
I’ve followed Terry Pegula’s ownership journey since the early days, and what strikes me isn’t just the natural gas money that made the purchase possible. It’s the deliberate, almost methodical way the Pegulas have built an integrated sports empire in Western New York.
They didn’t just buy a hockey team. They acquired the arena (now KeyBank Center), the AHL affiliate, the practice facility, massive real estate holdings around the arena district, and – perhaps most importantly – the emotional loyalty of an entire region. In a market that could have easily drifted toward Toronto or Pittsburgh fandom, Buffalo has maintained a fiercely local identity.
Some owners buy teams for ego or status. The Pegulas bought Buffalo because they genuinely believe in the city. That authenticity matters more than people realize when building long-term value.
Why Value Keeps Climbing Without Winning
This is the part that drives traditionalists crazy. How does a perpetual rebuilding team keep gaining value?
The answer lies in understanding what professional sports teams actually are in 2025: media and entertainment properties with local monopolies and scarcity value. The NHL has only 32 slots. Buffalo owns one forever. That scarcity, combined with new national media deals, expanding gambling revenue, and the league’s growing international footprint, creates a rising tide that lifts even the smallest boats.
Add in the fact that NHL teams have some of the most favorable arena lease terms in sports – many with minimal rent payments and maximum revenue retention – and you start to understand why investors are salivating over even struggling franchises.
The Attendance Paradox
Here’s where it gets really interesting. The Sabres averaged 15,975 fans last season – essentially flat year-over-year – in a building that holds 19,070. That’s not great. But it’s also not catastrophic.
In fact, it tells us something important about modern sports economics. Ticket sales, while still meaningful, are no longer the primary driver of franchise value they once were. Corporate partnerships, media rights (both local and national), premium seating revenue, and ancillary real estate development now carry far more weight.
Buffalo might not sell out every night, but the fans who do show up are spending more than ever on experiences – club seats, premium food and beverage, merchandise. And the corporate community has remained remarkably supportive despite the on-ice product.
The Young Core Conundrum
Of course, none of this financial analysis erases the fundamental frustration of Sabres fans. The team has Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, Owen Power, and a promising young core. They have cap space. They have draft capital. Yet something keeps breaking.
But from a pure investment standpoint, this might actually be part of the value proposition. The franchise has assembled assets that could explode upward with competent management, creating what investors love: asymmetric upside. The floor is already high because of the league’s economics. The ceiling, if they ever figure it out, could be enormous.
What This Means for the Future
Looking ahead, several factors could push Buffalo’s valuation even higher:
- The next Canadian and American media rights deals (current ones expire after 2025-26 and 2027-28 respectively)
- Potential expansion (each new team pays a fee that gets distributed to existing owners)
- Continued growth in legal sports betting revenue sharing
- Development around KeyBank Center continuing to mature
- And yes – eventually winning would help too
The most intriguing possibility? The Pegulas have built something that could be incredibly attractive to the next generation of sports owners – groups that value data, development, and integrated entertainment districts over immediate winning. Buffalo represents a clean, relatively inexpensive (in relative terms) entry point into NHL ownership with massive embedded growth potential.
Sometimes I wonder if we’re watching the creation of the next great sports ownership success story – not because the Sabres are dominating on the ice, but because they’re proving that in modern sports finance, patience and infrastructure can be worth more than immediate results.
The team that can’t make the playoffs just became worth $1.42 billion. In 2025, that’s not a contradiction. It’s the new reality of professional hockey economics.
And honestly? As someone who’s watched this league evolve over decades, I find that reality pretty fascinating – even if it drives traditional fans absolutely crazy.
