The NHL’s expansion to the Sun Belt had many hockey fans screaming penalty during the initial years in these nontraditional markets, as many of these clubs piled up losses on and off the ice. Yet over the last five years, teams in Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami and Tampa have secured seven of the 10 slots in the Stanley Cup Finals, including four titles.
The Original Six has history on its side, but the Sun Belt has become a hockey hotbed.
Tampa is a Harvard case study on how to turn around a franchise in a challenging market, according to one NHL team president. “Go Bolts” marketing papers the growing city, and the club’s sellout streak will top 400 games by season’s end, the longest in the NHL.
Lightning owner Jeff Vinik just sold a majority stake in the team at a $1.8 billion valuation, 14 years after he invested $170 million to buy the franchise. The price is higher than 13 baseball clubs in Sportico’s MLB team valuations.
Overall, the NHL has been on a winning streak. During the last 13 months, it found solutions for its two biggest problem franchises (Arizona and Ottawa), arenas are packed for NHL games and concerts, and competition for the new Canadian TV deal is expected to produce an agreement worth more than double the current pact and even triple if things break right.
The result is the average NHL franchise is worth $1.79 billion, up 37% from 2023 by Sportico’s calculations. The jump follows a 29% gain last year and represents a 92% increase since 2021, when the average team was worth $934 million. Collectively, the NHL’s 32 teams are valued at $57.3 billion, including team-related business and real estate held by owners, based on conversations with 40 bankers, lawyers, team executives, owners and consultants over the last six weeks.
The Toronto Maple Leafs lead the NHL for the fourth straight year at a $3.66 billion valuation, followed by the New York Rangers ($3.25 billion), Montreal Canadiens ($2.93 billion), Boston Bruins ($2.67 billion) and Los Angeles Kings ($2.5 billion).
There have been a handful of team transactions over the last year that showcase the surge in NHL team values. In December, private equity executive Oliver Haarmann reached a deal to buy 9% of the New York Islanders at a roughly $1.7 billion valuation that does not include any path to control. In 2021, the Islanders opened the $1.1 billion UBS Arena, in partnership with Oak View Group.
