Every year when these numbers drop, I still get that little rush — the same one I felt as a kid ripping open hockey cards, except now the stickers shock in billions, not dollars.
This morning the latest official NHL franchise valuations landed, and honestly? They’re wild. The average team is now worth $2.2 billion — that’s up 15% in a single year. One club crossed the $4 billion mark for the first time ever, and a few so-called small-market teams just posted growth numbers that would make tech startups blush.
So grab a coffee (or a double-double if you’re north of the border), because we’re diving deep into what’s actually moving the money in professional hockey right now.
The New Reality: Hockey Is Big Business
For years people joked that the NHL was the poor cousin of North American pro sports leagues. Those days are officially over.
Two things happened almost simultaneously that changed everything: Canada decided it still loves hockey more than oxygen, and U.S. networks finally realized that playoff overtime beats basically any scripted drama they can produce.
The result? National media deals are about to explode, arena economics keep getting sweeter, and suddenly owning an NHL team looks like one of the best asset classes on the planet.
The Top of the Mountain Looks Familiar — But Not Identical
Toronto remains king. The Maple Leafs sit alone at $4.3 billion, which feels almost conservative when you realize they’re basically a content company that happens to play hockey 41 nights a year.
Think about this for a second: their regular-season gate revenue alone was around $130 million last year. Add another $45–55 million from local TV (heading higher soon), and you start to understand why ownership smiles even when the playoffs go sideways.
New York Rangers hang onto second place at $3.8 billion despite taking a haircut on their regional TV deal. How? Simple — nobody in sports prints money at the gate like Madison Square Garden on a hockey night. They pulled in $179 million just from ticket sales. That’s not a typo.
Montreal rounds out the podium at $3.4 billion, freshly armed with a local rights package that will pay them more annually than any other team in the league. When you broadcast in both official languages to a province that treats the Habs like religion, the math works.
The Surprise Movers That Should Scare the Old Guard
Here’s where it gets fun.
Edmonton — yes, Edmonton — leapfrogged Boston and now sits fifth at $3.1 billion, up 17% in one year. A superstar named Connor McDavid helps, sure, but the bigger story is that western Canada finally figured out how to monetize passion at scale. New local TV money, record sponsorships, premium seating sold out before the season even starts… it’s a masterclass.
Carolina at No. 15 posted a ridiculous 53% increase. Fifty-three. That’s not growth; that’s a rocket ship. Tom Dundon bought the Hurricanes for $420 million in 2018. Today they’re worth two billion. I’d say he’s earned a parade.
Winnipeg, Utah, and Columbus all grew north of 30%. These aren’t traditional powerhouse markets, yet they’re outpacing legacy brands. Something structural is happening.
Why the Rising Tide Lifts Smaller Boats Faster
National television money gets split 32 equal ways. Always has. That simple fact is quietly rewriting the competitive balance off the ice.
When the new Canadian deal kicks in (roughly double the current one) and the U.S. package likely follows suit after 2027-28, every team gets an automatic revenue bump measured in tens of millions. For low-revenue clubs, that’s transformative. For Toronto it’s nice, but not life-changing.
“The next U.S. rights deal for the NHL should approach a doubling.”
— Industry analyst Lee Berke, LHB Sports
He’s not alone in that prediction. If both markets double, the salary cap explodes, player contracts balloon, and the rising tide lifts every franchise — but proportionally more for the bottom half.
Arena Economics Still Rule Everything
Don’t get me wrong — the league-wide revenue sharing is powerful, but if you want to live at the very top, you still need to own your building or have an insanely favorable lease.
- Rangers: control MSG, print money
- Leafs: own Scotiabank Arena with the Raptors, split concerts 50/50, still obscene margins
- Kings: Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples) sweetheart deal plus Hollywood halo
- Canadiens: Bell Centre is basically a cash machine with nets
Teams stuck in old buildings with bad leases (looking at you, Islanders pre-UBS Arena) or heavy debt loads get punished every year in these rankings. It’s brutal but fair.
Quick Hits From the Full 32-Team List
Some observations that jumped out while I was poring over the numbers:
- Vegas at 13th and Seattle at 21st prove expansion fees were the bargain of the century
- Pittsburgh flat at $1.76B — Crosby/Malkin era winding down and no arena upgrade in sight
- Florida up 30% to $1.75B on back-to-back Final runs (hockey works in the sun when you win)
- Buffalo and Ottawa near the bottom despite new(ish) ownership — building culture takes time
- Utah’s new Mammoth branding already reflected in a 33% bump
What This Means for Fans (Yes, It Affects You)
Higher valuations eventually touch everything you complain about:
- Ticket prices? They’re going up — someone has to service that enterprise value
- Salary cap? Exploding — get ready for $100M+ contracts sooner than you think
- Expansion or relocation chatter? Quieter — why sell when values compound 15% a year?
On the bright side, more money usually means better facilities, bigger free-agent swings, and owners willing to spend to the cap. Winning cures everything, and winning is easier when your owner isn’t bleeding cash.
The Bottom Line
Hockey has quietly become one of the hottest tickets in global sports investment. Fifteen percent annual growth would make any private-equity partner drool, and the NHL is doing it without the geopolitical baggage of some soccer leagues or the antitrust headaches of others.
Toronto might stay on top for a while — the brand is just too strong — but the gap between the haves and have-nots is narrowing faster than most people realize. In five years this list could look dramatically different.
And honestly? I can’t wait to see it.
(All figures converted to USD using the one-year average exchange rate. Valuations represent enterprise value including arena economics but excluding owned real estate parcels.)
