Remember when people used to joke that the only thing colder than a Winnipeg winter was the city’s chances of keeping an NHL team? Yeah, those days feel pretty distant right now.
The latest numbers are in, and the Winnipeg Jets are suddenly worth $1.46 billion. That’s not a rounding error. That’s a 33% jump in a single year, enough to push them past some historically bigger brands and plant them firmly at number 29 among the league’s 32 franchises. For a club that returned to Manitoba in 2011 after the heartbreak of losing the original Jets, this feels less like a valuation and more like vindication.
From Underdog to Billion-Dollar Asset
Let’s be honest – nobody saw this kind of growth coming quite so fast. Sure, the Jets have been good on the ice lately, but hockey valuations have never moved purely on wins and losses. There’s something bigger happening in the True North.
I’ve followed Canadian hockey markets for years, and Winnipeg always felt like the ultimate test case: can a smaller city, with brutal winters and a passionate but limited fan base, actually sustain big-league success in the modern NHL? The answer, apparently, is a resounding yes.
Breaking Down the Numbers That Matter
At $1.46 billion, the Jets aren’t just growing – they’re growing faster than almost anyone else in the league. That 33% year-over-year increase is among the sharpest in hockey. To put it in perspective, only a handful of teams managed better than 25% growth, and most of those play in massive media markets.
Here’s what really catches my eye though: revenue hit $182 million last season. That number would have looked absurd five years ago. Operating income (EBITDA) sits at a healthy $17 million, and perhaps most impressively, debt represents just 9% of enterprise value. In a league where some owners are leveraged to the hilt, that’s financial discipline that would make Warren Buffett proud.
- Valuation: $1.46 billion (up 33% YoY)
- Revenue: $182 million
- EBITDA: $17 million
- Debt-to-value: 9% (one of the lowest in NHL)
- Average attendance: 14,366 (93.9% capacity)
- One-year attendance growth: +6.5%
The Mark Chipman Effect
Look, ownership matters. And in Winnipeg, they’ve had the same steady hands since day one. When the group led by Mark Chipman and David Thomson bought the Atlanta Thrashers for $170 million back in 2011 (a price that already included $60 million just to move the team), plenty of people called it a vanity project.
Fourteen years later, that $170 million investment has turned into $1.46 billion. That’s better than 8x return before you even account for the cash flow the team has generated along the way. In my experience covering sports business, you rarely see ownership this patient and this competent in a smaller market.
They’ve never chased quick fixes or flashy moves. They’ve built something sustainable, brick by brick, in a city that desperately wanted to prove it belonged.
Canada Life Centre: The Little Arena That Could
Everyone focuses on the flashy new buildings in Seattle or Vegas, but sometimes the best success stories happen in places that were supposed to be left behind. Canada Life Centre (still feels weird not calling it Bell MTS Centre or whatever it was last week) only holds 15,294 for hockey. That’s among the smallest in the league.
And yet? They’re pushing 94% capacity, with attendance up 6.5% year-over-year. That tells you everything about demand in this market. Fans aren’t just showing up – they’re fighting for tickets. In a league where some buildings look half-empty on weeknights, Winnipeg sells out everything.
There’s something genuinely special about a city that lost its team once and vowed “never again.” You can feel it when you walk into that building. It’s loud, it’s intense, and frankly, it’s the kind of atmosphere bigger markets sometimes struggle to create.
Why Small Market Success Actually Works
I’ve always believed the NHL’s economic model actually favors markets like Winnipeg more than people realize. The national TV money in Canada is massive and gets shared across all teams. When you combine that with intense local passion and disciplined cost control, you don’t need 19,000 seats or a downtown arena surrounded by condo developments to make serious money.
The Jets prove you can win the business game without being Toronto or New York. Actually, in some ways, it’s easier. Lower real estate costs. A fan base that treats every game like Game 7. Corporate support that’s fiercely loyal because there aren’t seventeen other professional sports teams competing for sponsorship dollars.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect? Winnipeg might actually be undervalued still. Their revenue multiple sits well below league average because the market size perception hasn’t caught up to reality yet. If you’re an investor looking for the next big appreciation story in sports, this feels like one of those opportunities people will kick themselves for missing in five years.
The Playoff Premium That Isn’t Priced In
Last season the Jets won their first-round series before falling in the second round. Not exactly a Cup run, but for this franchise, it was progress. And progress matters more in Winnipeg than almost anywhere else.
Deep playoff runs create something you can’t manufacture: generational memories. Kids growing up right now in Manitoba are watching their team compete in May. That’s how you build a fan base that lasts fifty years, not five. The valuation reflects today’s business, but the potential reflects tomorrow’s fans.
Where the Jets Rank Among Canadian Teams
Let’s put this in context with the rest of Canadian hockey:
| Team | 2025 Valuation | Rank |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Top 1 | 1st |
| Montreal Canadiens | Top 3 | 3rd |
| Edmonton Oilers | Top 5 | 5th |
| Vancouver Canucks | Top 12 | 12th |
| Calgary Flames | Top 17 | 17th |
| Winnipeg Jets | $1.46B | 29th |
| Ottawa Senators | Lower | 30th |
Yes, they’re still behind the big Canadian brands. But they’re now worth more than some American sunbelt teams that play in much larger buildings. That gap is closing faster than anyone expected.
What This Means for Sports Investors
If you’re looking at sports as an asset class – and plenty of institutional money is these days – Winnipeg represents something rare: a franchise that’s still in the steep part of its growth curve. Most of the “obvious” markets are already priced for perfection. The Leafs at nearly $4 billion? Good luck finding value there.
But a team that’s figured out how to extract maximum value from a passionate, underserved market? That’s where the real money gets made over the next decade. The Jets aren’t the sexiest story in hockey right now. Honestly? They might be one of the smartest.
Sometimes the best investments aren’t the ones everyone is talking about. Sometimes they’re the ones happening quietly in a city that’s too cold for most people to visit in February, building something that will be worth twice as much when those same people finally notice.
Winnipeg isn’t asking for your approval anymore. They’ve already proven they belong.
And at $1.46 billion and counting, the price of admission just went up.
