For the first time, hockey team valuations have crossed the $4 billion threshold, with CNBC's NHL valuations led by the Toronto Maple Leafs, at $5.4 billion, the New York Rangers, at $4.7 billion, and the Montreal Canadiens, at $4.1 billion. The average NHL team is now worth $2.71 billion, 23% more than a year ago.
Don't be fooled by the lone NHL control sale to close over the past 12 months: the $1.8 billion sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Hoffmann family. Although the transaction was approved by the league in June, the price was negotiated about 18 months ago.
Look instead at the latest minority stake transactions. In March the NHL approved the sale of a 12.5% stake in the Carolina Hurricanes by Tom Dundon in a transaction that valued the team at $2.66 billion. Scott Malkin and other shareholders are close to selling a 15% stake in the New York Islanders at a $3 billion valuation. Sports bankers tell CNBC these deals are representative of what control stakes in the two teams would sell for given the hot market for sports teams.
"Like the other major sports leagues there is a strong demand to own hockey teams because their media content values are high and there is a scarcity of teams," said Sal Galatioto, whose firm, Galatioto Sports Partners, advises clients on both the buy and sell sides of sports-team transactions. "Capitalism and technology are creating more wealth and the NHL, like the NFL, NBA and MLB, is an industry with a very long product life cycle, a hedge against risk in AI."
The NHL's current national media rights deals with Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are worth a combined annual average of close to $650 million through the 2027-28 season, but given the league's strong television ratings last season, a big increase could be in the offing.
"The 2025-26 NHL regular season averaged 546,000 viewers across ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports, up 25% from last year and the highest average in more than a decade," Sports Media Watch wrote. "The 25% increase is on the high end of a general rise in sports viewership that includes gains of 35% for the NBA, 19% for men's college basketball and 10% for the NFL."
Sports Media Watch also wrote that the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 1.8 million viewers in the U.S. across ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports. That's up 68% from 2025, and it's the highest average on record for the playoffs on American television, going back to 1994, it said.
The NHL is pondering adding teams in cities such as Houston and Atlanta, and another factor fueling NHL valuations is the belief that the expansion fees paid by the new teams would surpass $2 billion. The Seattle Kraken, the NHL's most recent expansion team, paid a $650 million fee to join the league for the 2021-22 season.
According to CNBC's figures, revenue for the league's 32 teams averaged $257 million for the 2025-26 season, 6% more than the previous year, while EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — averaged $48 million per team, a decline of 11% due to arena expenses. The league's profitability should rebound as money spent on hospitality, concessions and merchandise stores boosts revenue.
In April 2025 the NHL and Rogers Communications agreed to a 12-year national Canadian media rights deal worth $7.79 billion, based on exchange rates as of Nov. 24, that will begin with the 2026-27 season. That's more than twice the amount the league is getting from its existing 12-year deal with Rogers. This will help push up the league's hockey-related revenue — which includes media rights, sponsorships, premium seating, tickets, concessions and parking — to around $7.25 billion for the 2026-27 season, 7% more than last season.
Methodology
CNBC's Official NHL Team Valuations are current enterprise values — equity plus net debt — calculated using revenue multiples, and include the economics of the team's arena, including non-NHL revenue that accrues to the team's owner. The valuations are meant to represent what a control stake valuation would go for in an arm's-length transaction and do not include the value of the arena or the real estate it sits on.
Revenue figures are net of revenue sharing and the 35% of home playoff non-premium gate revenue that goes toward the league's revenue-sharing pool. Revenue multiples are based on historical transaction prices, as well as what investors, league executives and bankers say about the current market.
CNBC values exclude other businesses related to the teams with separate financial statements, such as the Edmonton Oilers' mixed-use real estate project. For teams that sell their own merchandise, such as the Oilers, CNBC deducts the cost of goods sold from merchandise sales. Likewise, CNBC excludes the market value of affiliates/equity method investments to ensure consistent enterprise value-to-revenue and enterprise value-to-EBITDA multiples. Debt figures are the latest available and include both team debt and stadium debt.
CNBC incorporates the value of a pending new arena in our valuations if construction has begun and financing has been secured. For example, the $2.25 billion valuation for the Calgary Flames incorporates their new arena, which is scheduled to open in time for the 2027-28 season. Likewise, CNBC valuations anticipate a substantial increase in the NHL's next U.S. national broadcasting deal, which would begin with the 2028-29 season.
Revenue and EBITDA figures are for the 2025-26 season and net of revenue sharing and player escrow. CNBC presents revenue and operating income figures on a cash basis, rather than an accrual basis. CNBC figures are different from the league's official hockey-related revenue because we include non-NHL arena revenue that goes to the teams. When the owner of the arena also owns both the NHL team and NBA team that play in the same building — as is the case for several teams, including Toronto's Maple Leafs and Raptors, who are both owned by Rogers Communications and play in Scotiabank Arena — we divide revenue from non-sports events held at the arena evenly between the two teams.
All valuation figures are in U.S. dollars. The exchange rate for revenue and EBITDA is based on a one-year average, from June 2025 to June 2026, of CA$1 = US$0.72, and the exchange rate for team values and debt, as of Sept. 21, is CA$1 = US$0.71.
Sources for CNBC's Official NHL Team Valuations include team owners, investors and executives, as well as sports bankers and league consultants; public documents such as stadium lease agreements, stadium authority budget audits and credit rating reports; and sponsorship and broadcasting industry executives. Certain figures were provided by league executives who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity because agreements are private and they do not have permission to speak about them publicly. Figures that could not be confirmed with sources are CNBC estimates.
