For the 7th consecutive year, the New York Rangers have topped the annual Forbes Franchise Value List. According to the report, the average NHL franchise is now worth $865M, up roughly 32% from last year’s figures. While the jump is substantial, owing largely to the new 7 year broadcasting deal the league inked with ESPN and Turner Broadcasting, the figure still lags behind the other major North American sports leagues.
The Rangers are the first franchise to eclipse the $2B mark since Forbes began collecting data 23 years ago. Rounding out the top ten are the usual suspects, all of the original 6 franchises are present, plus the Flyers, Oilers, Kings, and Islanders.
While there’s a direct correlation between the size of the media market the franchise finds itself in and the value of the team, some smaller market teams such as Edmonton find themselves ranked high on the list because of the roster they currently have under contract. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are two of the league’s biggest stars, and they both happen to find themselves under contract with the Oilers through 2024-25 season. That star power is a major factor in Edmonton’s 7th overall ranking with a $1.1B valuation. This, coupled with new arena deals for the Oilers, Islanders, and Kraken amongst others have led to strong estimates of their overall worth.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the league’s bottom 5 teams all find themselves in small media markets, without the presence of any global superstars on their rosters. Arizona, Florida, Columbus, Buffalo and Ottawa rank 32nd through 28th respectively and have all been subject to rumours of relocation or changes in ownership in recent years.
While the rise in franchise values will certainly have owners grinning from ear to ear, the league still has a ways to go if it wants to catch up to its big brothers the MLB, NBA, and NFL. The average values of franchises for each of those leagues is more than double what the NHL currently boasts. On average, an 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.