CNBC’s 2026 valuations put the average NHL team at $2.71 billion, up 23%, even as arena costs cut into operating earnings.
Hockey just got its first $5 billion franchise. CNBC’s official 2026 NHL team valuations, published Nov. 13, put the Toronto Maple Leafs at $5.4 billion, ahead of the New York Rangers at $4.7 billion and the Montreal Canadiens at $4.1 billion.
The average team is now worth $2.71 billion, up 23% from a year ago. Revenue grew far slower. CNBC pegs average team revenue for 2025-26 at $257 million, up 6%. Average EBITDA slipped 11% to $48 million, a drop it blames on arena expenses.
So buyers are paying for the future. Rogers’ 12-year Canadian rights deal, valued at $7.79 billion, starts this season; the U.S. deals with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery average close to $650 million a year through 2027-28, and CNBC’s numbers assume a bigger American package after that. Audiences are cooperating, with regular-season viewership up 25% and the 2026 playoffs up 68% to 1.8 million U.S. viewers, citing Sports Media Watch.
The private market agrees. Tom Dundon sold 12.5% of the Carolina Hurricanes in March at a $2.66 billion valuation, an Islanders stake of about 15% is close to selling at $3 billion, and the Hoffmann family bought control of the Pittsburgh Penguins from Fenway Sports Group for $1.8 billion, a price negotiated roughly 18 months earlier.
Three years ago, Forbes figures for the 2021-22 season, using a different method, put the league average at $1.03 billion, the first time it topped $1 billion. Sports banker Sal Galatioto told CNBC there is “a strong demand to own hockey teams because their media content values are high.”
Next up is expansion. Fees may exceed $2 billion, against the $650 million Seattle paid, with Houston and Atlanta in the conversation. Shrinking margins have not slowed anyone down.
Sources
- CNBC (via News Beep) – CNBC’s Official NHL Team Valuations 2026: How the 32 clubs stack up – https://www.newsbeep.com/us/915961/
- Front Office Sports – The Top 10 Most Valuable NHL Franchises (2023) – https://frontofficesports.com/the-top-10-most-valuable-nhl-franchises
- Wikipedia – Pittsburgh Penguins – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Penguins
Featured photo: Dmitry Ant / Unsplash, used under the Unsplash License.
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