Forbes: NHL team values up 32 percent from last season, still behind other sports

No fans in the seats for nearly a full year? No problem.

The NHL, much like the other major North American sports leagues, has largely shrugged off the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Forbes, the average NHL team value is up 32 percent from last season and the New York Rangers have become the first franchise to have a value of $2 billion.

Hockey-related revenue was down by a wide margin for the 2020-21 season as the league operated with a shortened 56-game schedule and the majority of games were played without fans. But thanks largely to massive media deals signed with ESPN and Turner Sports in the United States, the league won’t have a difficult time compensating for the losses from the pandemic.

The Rangers, as previously mentioned, top Forbes’ list at $2 billion. Right behind them are the Toronto Maple Leafs at $1.8 billion and the Montreal Canadiens at $1.6 billion. The team that saw the biggest jump between last year and this year is the Edmonton Oilers.

Once upon a time, the Oilers were the NHL’s smallest market, but now they rank seventh in the league in terms of value at $1.1 billion. The key to this jump is the team’s state-of-the-art arena that opened in 2016, which generates revenue from “fancy seating” and advertising.

At the bottom of the list, to nobody’s surprise, is the Arizona Coyotes, who are worth $400 million. Even this seems a bit rich for the Coyotes, who were purchased in July of 2019 by Alex Meruelo for $300 million. The Coyotes are reportedly hemorrhaging money, so much so that they might get booted out of their arena if they can’t pay off some debts by December 20.

Now, how does the compare to the other major North American sports leagues? While the NHL is certainly growing, it still lags behind the NBA, NFL and MLB, all of whom have larger footprints in the United States.

For context, the NHL’s average team value according to Forbes is $653 million. Meanwhile, the average MLB team is worth $1.9 billion, the average NBA team is worth $2.48 billion and the average NFL team is worth $3.48 billion.

Let’s use the Rangers, the NHL’s most valuable club, as a measuring stick. Their $2 billion value would rank them 10th in MLB, tied for 14th in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings and would be dead last in the NFL, well behind the Buffalo Bills, who are worth $2.27 billion.

Again, the NHL is undoubtedly growing and these deals with ESPN and Turner in the United States could be a game-changer, but there’s a ways to go before they’re in the same realm as the big three juggernauts.