Every year, Forbes’ look at NHL team values offers an interesting insight into the business of hockey. The current year’s profound plunge gives an especially intriguing gander at how hockey has fared through the 2019-20 season pandemic.
According to Forbes writers Mike Ozanian and Kurt Badenhausen, the NHL saw a drop in the average team value for the first time since 2001, down 2% to $653 million. Revenue also saw a significant drop – down 14%, totaling $4.4 billion in 2019-20 – as did operating income, which was down to $250 million (a 68% drop).
It’s anything but difficult to perceive any reason why with the whole post-season directed in isolated air bubbles with void stands. Per Ozanian and Badenhausen, all the aspects of normal fanfare, in-arena food and drink purchases, sponsorships, etc are what typically make up about 70% of revenue for teams and the league.
As indicated by Forbes, the New York Rangers remain the NHL’s most valuable team and they have been consistent with last year’s assessment. This isn’t surprising considering the large market and huge financial budget of the historic Big Apple club.
There are no surprises when it comes to which teams follow the Rangers, who are valued at $1.65 billion, on the list of most valuable franchises: coming in at No. 2 are the Toronto Maple Leafs (valued at $1.5 billion), with the Montreal Canadiens ($1.34 billion), Chicago Blackhawks ($1.085 billion) and Boston Bruins ($1 billion) rounding out the top five.
With a value of $725 million, the Vancouver Canucks are the 10th-most valuable team. The Edmonton Oilers ($550 million) came in at 14, followed by the Calgary Flames (20th, $480 million), Ottawa Senators (26th, $430 million) and Winnipeg Jets (27th, $405 million).
As per Ozanian and Badenhausen, nine teams reported monetary losses in the Tampa Bay Lightning, who posted losses of $11 million. Commonly, the Cup champs see an enormous pump in incomes yet without fans having the option to go to games, the Lightning’s success didn’t bring that equivalent financial achievement.
The New York Islanders posted an operating income of -$38 million. That doesn’t mean a drop in their overall value, however they landed at 16th in that regard, holding their value at $520 million. Fifteen other teams posted negative incomes which also included the Ottawa Senators ($-2.9 million) and Winnipeg Jets ($-7.6 million).
