NHL team values are down for the first time in decades, according to Forbes
Hockey as a whole has seen steady financial growth over the last few decades, which has led to expansion and an increase in popularity in areas where one wouldn't necessarily think to find hockey. That was, of course, prior to 2020, when COVID-19 ruined everyone's plans.
According to Forbes, NHL team values took a hit in 2020, due in part to the season pause, but also due to the lack of fans in attendance when hockey was finally able to resume. This marked the first time in two decades that the league did not report a profit.
Much like it in past years, the average team value in the league was propped up by the upper-echelon teams like the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins, each of whom is worth upwards of $1B.
Meanwhile, teams such as the Arizona Coyotes, Florida Panthers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres and about a half-dozen other franchises continue to bleed money, which hasn't helped in raising the average.
Forbes has reported the average value among NHL teams is now $653M, down 2% from last year's report. The average team value was not the only figure to have taken a hit, as revenues are also down 14% from 2018-19, while operating income saw a staggering 68% reduction. That should give folks some context as to why NHL owners had put such a large emphasis on re-negotiating with the players to help absorb some of the impact of financial losses from last season and, conceivably, from the upcoming season as well.
Drew Dorweiller, a managing director at IJW & Co., an investment bank based in Montreal, figures that another way that teams may look to replenish some capital is by taking on more investors.
"NHL franchises will be challenged to find creative ways to offset the impact of pandemic-inflicted operating losses. One of these strategies will likely be to raise capital through sales of minority stakes in NHL teams to investors.”
A lot of the reason why teams such as the Rangers, Leafs, Habs, Blackhawks and Bruins - among others - are able to succeed where others struggle is because of TV deals that help the product reach its target audience. Other areas, such as some of the southern States, do not have such deals for hockey clubs, resulting in less demand for the product. In other words, less fans = less revenues. Even the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning reported an operating loss of $11M.
There may be some methods that the league intends to employ in the years ahead that can work to improve the exposure to some of the NHL's struggling markets, such as legalized gambling on NHL games, which may be one of the reasons why the league is looking at implementing player tracking, among other things.
Pushing the game into the future and catching up to other pro sports leagues like the NFL or the NBA is something the NHL has been actively pursuing for some time. Hopefully, this pandemic hasn't done enough damage to prevent that from happening. Perhaps we'll look back on this time as just a minor speed bump.
More information on team and league financials can be found here, at forbes.com.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 4, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brett Howden | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mark Jankowski | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | - | - | |
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