Out of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League, a list of the 10 most valuable was released by Forbes.com on February 24 for its 16th annual valuation of the most valuable teams in the NHL in New York City.
At the No. 1 is the Toronto Maple Leafs which is worth $1.3 billion. The Maple Leafs has been on the top spot for nine straight years. Based on the Forbes valuations, the value of the average NHL team increased by 18.6 percent from 2013. As a result, the average NHL team has attained its biggest growth in history at $490 million.
Based on the Forbes report, the big rise was caused by the new contract of the NHL with Rogers Communications, a Canadian media company. The deal with Rogers Communications is more than two and a half times as big as the past contracts that the NHL entered into with Canadian firms. The agreement is valued at $4.6 billion and will run for 12 years, giving Rogers Communications rights to all NHL games in Canada. Rogers Communications will also get rights in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final in all languges and all platforms.
According to Yahoo! Sports, the New York Rangers are the second most valuable NHL team at $1.1 billion. The Montreal Canadiens are at No. 3 at $1 billion. Both the Rangers and Canadiens rose by 29 percent since 2013. The Chicago Blackhawks are at No. 4 at $825 million, followed by the Vancouver Canucks at $800 million. The Boston Bruins are in sixth place at $750 million. The Philadelphia Flyers are in seventh place at $625 million. At No. 8 are the Los Angeles Kings, the reigning Stanley Cup champions, with $580 million then the Detroit Red Wings in ninth place at $570 million. Rounding out the top ten are the Pittsburgh Penguins at $565 million.
CBC wrote that the top three NHL teams also have the most lucrative local television contracts and their ticket price averages are the highest in the entire league. Aside from the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Vancouver Canucks are the only other franchise from Canada that made the top ten Forbes list. Two other Canadian teams made the top 15, namely the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames at No. 12 and 13 respectively.
The least valuable, based on the same CBC report, are the Florida Panthers, at only $190 million.
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