Ryan Reynolds and Snoop Dogg were in a bidding war earlier this year. The two celebrities wanted to become the owners of the NHL's Ottawa Senators, and were bidding around $1 billion for the team.
Neither was able to secure the bid — instead the sale went to Canadian businessman Michael Andlauer for $950 million, a number that was 45% more than the $655 million valuation Sportico gave the team in 2022.
But sports teams valuations have been growing at a steep rate. The NFL's Washington Commanders were sold for $6.05 billion in July, and were valued at $4.78 billion by Sportico less than a year prior to the sale.
While NHL teams are no where near the peak valuation of some of the biggest teams in the NFL or NBA, the league's franchises have followed the other major sports by showing a massive leap in valuation over the last year.
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According to the 2023 NHL team valuations Sportico released on Wednesday, the averaged NHL team is now worth $1.31 billion, up 29% from 2022.
The Toronto Maple Leafs lead the pack with a valuation of $2.65 billion, which is up 25% versus last year. The biggest year-on-year percent gain went to the Carolina Hurricanes, now valued at $980 million which is up 59% versus 2022.
Ten of the league's 32 teams are still worth less than a billion dollars, but there is a steep gap between the 31st team, the Columbus Blue Jackets ($880 million) and the Arizona Coyotes ($675 million). Though the Coyotes still saw growth of 45% in 2023.
The other three major men's sports leagues have seen double-digit growth on average year-on-year valuation for its teams, at least based on Forbes' valuations. But the difference between the the NHL and the other three major leagues — and what makes it similar to what's becoming the fifth men's major sports league, Major League Soccer — is that there is more parity in valuation between the teams.
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Sportico's Lev Akabas showed that there are huge gaps in value in the NHL with the Dallas Cowboys ($9.2 billion) valued at least $2 billion more than the next closest team. In the NBA, the Golden State Warriors ($7.56 billion) are valued at just under a billion more than the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers, who are both valued billions more than the rest of the league. Though the NBA valuations from Sportico are still as of 2022.
In the MLB, the New York Yankees ($7.13 billion) have a wide gap from the next four teams — the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and San Francisco Giants — who themselves have separated from the pack.
But in the NHL and MLS, there isn't yet that separation between the top teams. This is attributed to a few things — such revenue generation which could be based on how many of NHL's top teams are in Canada.
.@Sportico's NHL valuations dropped today
— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) November 8, 2023
Here are all valuations for the five major U.S. sports leagues in one graphic pic.twitter.com/H4kv6jYXeZ
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