Thanks to the Canadian NHL franchises, the average value of the league’s 30 teams has risen to $413 million each, which is based on equity and net debt. This is a huge increase of 46 percent from last year.Forbes, which began tracking the value of the clubs in 1998, reports that three of the five most valuable franchises are based in Canada. These are the Toronto Maple Leafs, ranked first overall at $1.15 billion; the Montreal Canadiens, ranked third at $775 million; and the Vancouver Canucks, ranked fourth at $700 million.
The New York Rangers are the NHL’s second most valuable team at $850 million and the Chicago Blackhawks round out the top five at $625 million. In addition, all seven of the Canadian teams are ranked in the top 16.
However, Canadian fans find themselves paying more money on average for tickets. Six out of the seven clubs charged above the $64 league average, and the five franchises with the most expensive seats are all Canadian.
Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Maple Leafs are the most valuable team, since they charge the highest average ticket price of $120. Montreal follows at $99, the Winnipeg Jets charge $95, Vancouver asks $90 and the Edmonton Oilers charge $79.
The way the NHL is set up, the home team keeps 100 percent of their seat sales each season. The Leafs raked in $2.2 million per game last campaign, while Montreal made $2.1 million, Vancouver earned $1.8 million, the Rangers made $1.8 million and Edmonton and Calgary each pulled in $1.6 million per game.
Each team plays 41 regular-season home games, but the league played a shortened schedule of 48 games in 2012-13 due to the NHL lockout.
The Winnipeg Jets are now worth a total of $340 million, which is double what the franchise was valued at when it was the Atlanta Thrashers two years ago. However, not all clubs are successful, as the Florida Panthers sell some of the cheapest tickets in the league and are losing money.
As well as the Canadian teams making a lot of money for the NHL, the league has also hit the jackpot with its new 12-year contract for Canadian television rights. The league worked out a deal with Rogers Communications recently, which will see the media and broadcasting giant forking over more than $5.2 billion over the next dozen years.
The NHL currently has an American deal in place, which sees NBC pay it $187 million per season for 10 years. That deal began in 2011-12 and still has a long way to go.
The NHL and the players’ union worked out a new collective bargaining agreement early in 2013, and the league is now doing quite well financially. The team owners and players will share the revenue from the television contracts, and once the new deal kicks in next year, each club will see their revenues increase.
But in most of the Canadian markets, the fans don’t seem to get a break as the ticket prices just keep on rising year after year.
