Leafs, Rangers top list of most valuable franchises

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The average NHL team is now worth north of a billion dollars, according to Sportico's latest franchise valuations. (Getty) — The average NHL team is now worth north of a billion dollars, according to Sportico’s latest franchise valuations. (Getty)

Sportico released its annual NHL franchise valuations on Tuesday, and a familiar team once again came out on top.

For the second straight year, the Maple Leafs, worth a whopping $2.12 billion, are the league’s most valuable team — a six percent increase year-over-year — according to Sportico.

Toronto came in $110 million ahead of the second-ranked New York Rangers, who are worth just over $2 billion and up seven percent from 2021-22. The Montreal Canadiens, worth $1.7 billion (an eight percent increase), Chicago Blackhawks ($1.44B, up eight percent) and Boston Bruins ($1.41B, up eight percent) rounded out the league’s top five — which remained the same as last year.

The entire top-five group is unsurprisingly made up of Original Six teams, including the big-market Canadian clubs in Toronto and Montreal. The last of the O6 franchises, the Detroit Red Wings, ranked 10th with a valuation of $1.12 billion — a nine percent increase from last season.

Here’s how the rest of the Canadian teams ranked: Edmonton Oilers (eighth overall – $1.29B), Vancouver Canucks (11th overall – $1B), Calgary Flames (19th overall – $870M), Winnipeg Jets (22nd overall – $805M) and Ottawa Senators (27th overall – $655M). The latter is especially interesting, as the Sens — who reportedly just retained a bank to explore the possibility of a sale — saw by far the highest year-over-year growth of any franchise league-wide, increasing their value by a whopping 21 percent over the last 365 days.

The biggest variation we see from team-to-team is at the very bottom of the list, with the 31st-ranked Florida Panthers worth $130 million more than the last-ranked Arizona Coyotes.

The NHL, despite its whopping growth, is still a distant fourth among the “Big 4” North American pro sports leagues, with the NFL, NBA and MLB all ranking higher revenue- and value-wise.

According to Sportico, each team’s revenue is calculated by “relying on publicly available information and financial records, as well as interviews with those knowledgeable of team finances, including nine sports bankers and lawyers who actively work on NHL transactions.”

The sports business outlet added that NHL teams are valued at an average of just over 5x revenue. For comparison, NFL franchises are valued at 7.6x, while NBA and MLB squads are valued at 8.4x and 7.4x, respectively.