Proof that Gary Bettman is ruining the NHL

Over the past year, National Hockey League franchises have experienced only marginal growth in value, a contrast to the significant upticks seen in other major North American sports leagues.

Last autumn, Sportico's annual franchise valuations highlighted that just two teams surpassed the $2 billion mark—the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers. While the NHL's average franchise value hit $1 billion—an encouraging uptick—it still falls short of counterparts like the NFL, MLB, NBA, and MLS.

Sportico's recently unveiled rankings of all 152 teams across these major leagues underscore the NHL's lag in valuation.

Among them, only two NHL franchises cracked the top 75: the Toronto Maple Leafs securing the 66th spot with a valuation of $2.12 billion, and the New York Rangers following closely at 68th with a valuation of $2.01 billion.


The NHL has a mere six additional teams within the top 100, including Montreal (79th), Chicago (87th), Boston (88th), Los Angeles (T-89th), Philadelphia (93rd), Edmonton (96th), and Washington (98th).

Conversely, the Arizona Coyotes find themselves at the bottom of Sportico's list, occupying the 147th spot with a valuation of $465 million. This places them ahead of several MLS teams but highlights the considerable gap separating them from the next lowest NHL franchise, the Florida Panthers.


The presented data underscores the NHL's journey towards enhancing franchise value, prompting some to direct their critique at league leadership, including Commissioner Gary Bettman.

Source - bladeofsteel