Gary Bettman can be pretty pleased with himself. According to the latest edition of the Sportico NHL franchises valuations, the average NHL team is worth $1.79 billion and if you add up the value of all 32 teams, you end up with $57.3 B.
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Which team tops the ranking? Well, no it’s not the Montreal Canadiens but they are not far off. The Molson family owned franchise comes in third place with a $2.93 B valuation which includes $153 million in team related business and real estate and a $2.78 B value for the team itself.
Interestingly, even though the team has entered its first fully-fledged rebuild in the second half of the 2021-22 season, the revenues have keep increasing over the years. From $257 M in that season, the takings went up to $300 M the following season and to $318 M last season, the fifth highest revenue in the league (down from the second most profitable in 2022-23 and the fourth most profitable in 2021-22).
The Canadiens’ list of business partners looks like a who’s who of the most profitable brands in Canada with Bell being its naming rights partner and other corporate partners such as Air Canada, Canadian Tire, Montreal Casino, CIBC, Coca-Cola, Desjardins Group, Esso, Ford Motor, Mitsubishi Electrics, Molson Coors, RBC and Tim Hortons.
While the team is not done rebuilding on the ice going through some growing pains as exhibited by the roller-coaster of a week it just had, off the ice, the business is a well-oiled machine and is in good hands with the Molson family. The Canadiens are faring much better than divisional rival Buffalo Sabres but not as well as their old enemy.
Curious as to who tops the rankings? The Toronto Maple Leafs come in at number one with a $3.66 B value, followed by the New York Rangers with $3.25 B just before the Habs at $2.93 B as we’ve mentioned before. Rounding up the top five are the Boston Bruins with a $2.67 B valuation and the Los Angeles Kings at $2.5 B.
On the Canadian front, the Edmonton Oilers are third and 7th overall at $2.4 B, the Vancouver Canucks are fourth in the country and 13th overall at $1.73 B, the Calgary Flames are fifth nationwide and 18th overall at $1.58 B, the Ottawa Senators are sixth on this side of the border at $1.14 B and 29th overall while the Winnipeg Jets close the march of the Canadian franchise with $1.1 B and sit in 31st overall, before the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets who come in at $1.06 B.
In other words, two of the four least valuable franchises are based in Canada which probably won’t help Quebec city in its quest to get an expansion team. Interestingly however, the lowest population doesn’t necessarily mean the least valuable team. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the top 10 Canadian cities in population are Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Mississauga, Vancouver, Brampton and Hamilton.
Edmonton comes in fifth place population wise, but is third in valuation, Calgary is third in population but fifth in valuation while Vancouver is eight in term of population but fourth when it comes to valuation. Some interesting numbers there really.
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