How The NHL Became a Billion-Dollar Business

Hockey’s elite league is a big bucks business.

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Hockey may not hold the same widespread affection as does football, baseball, or basketball, but its status as one of North America’s leading sports can’t be disputed.

The money associated with the NHL is enormous by any measure. The 31 NHL teams have a cumulative worth of more than $18 billion, which averages out to about $600 million per team.

Being paid as an NHL professional isn’t half-bad, either. The average annual salary is $2.4 million, and big names take home a lot more than that. In 2017/18, Jonathan Toews pocketed a cool $16 million and Sidney Crosby took home $15.7 million. Those numbers don’t include endorsements and sponsorships that are readily available to top players.

 Two massive broadcasting deals changed that picture. A 2011 deal with the NBC involving the U.S.-based teams brought in more than $2 billion. Two years later, that figure was trumped by an agreement with Rogers Communications that enabled the NHL’s Canadian teams to bankroll $5.2 billion with the seven teams north of the board sharing that pot equally.

Since 2008, the average value of Canada’s NHL teams has increased 178%–even though none of those teams has won a Stanley Cup over that timespan.

And if you’re looking for a clear sign about the NHL’s financial muscle, look no farther than the cost of securing an expansion team. The six teams that came on board in 1967 each paid $2 million to join the NHL. Even when inflation is accounted for, that equates to a paltry $15 million in today’s dollars.

The five teams that joined in the 1990s each had to pay $50 million for a franchise (equal to approximately $90 million in today’s value.)

And that’s anywhere close to what the Vegas Golden Knights paid in 2016 to become the NHL’s 31st member–a staggering $500 million. But that investment paid immediate dividends because the team achieved early and unexpected success on the ice.

The NHL may still seem like ‘small game’ when compared to sporting behemoths, like the NFL and NBA. But don’t be fooled into believing that hockey’s elite league isn’t a big bucks business.

It is!

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Candace DiGiacomo is affiliated with Tucker Hockey.