Research suggests an average hockey player skates over 20MPH per hour. Impressively fast. But the pace at which NHL is increasing their business will beat even that. The average franchise valuation growth in the league is topping the giants. It’s more than double that of the NFL and even better than the NFL, NBA, and MLS combined. A deep dive reveals even more staggering insights.
NBA Vs. NFL Vs. MLB Vs. NHL
Kurt Badenhausen of Sports Business Journal’s tweet reveals that the average franchise valuation in the NFL has grown by 15% from 2023 to 2024. Just slightly higher than what it was from 2021 to 2022 (14%). But almost ten percent down from the average franchise valuation growth between 2022 and 2023 (24%).
The NHL has been on a roll with franchise values increasing at faster rate than other 4 biggest North American sports leagues. https://t.co/172lHdWMtK pic.twitter.com/GJjzFPi0Uu
— Kurt Badenhausen (@kbadenhausen) March 31, 2025
According to CNBC, the average valuation of the NFL’s 32 teams last year was $6.5B, from $5.1B a year prior. Comparably, the average NBA team is worth $4.66 billion, according to CNBC, a 15% growth from 2023. Whereas an average MLB team is valued at $2.6B. But as far as yearly growth is concerned, NHL has them all beat. That is evident from the most-valued team’s financials from each league.
League
Franchise
Valuation
Y-O-Y
Change
Revenue
Y-O-Y
Growth
NFL
Dallas Cowboys
$10.1B
12%
$1.2B
5.72%
NBA
Golden State Warriors
$8.8B
14%
$800M
5.88%
MLB
New York Yankees
$8.2B
9%
$728M
7.21%
NHL
Toronto Maple Leafs
$3.8B
36%
$308M
9.6%
Furthermore, in the NHL, over nine teams have increased their valuation by 50% in a year in 2024, led by the Utah Hockey Club with a jaw-dropping 140% valuation surge. In MLB, the largest increase has come from the Athletics (50%). Buccaneer’s 29% growth is the highest in NHL, whereas, Boston Celtics’ 28% annual growth is the highest recorded in the NBA.
Clearly, the growth in the NHL has been peerless. In fact, Forbes reports that only the NBA has a better 10-year growth rate than the NHL. But in the last couple of years, hockey’s astronomical rise has left all others biting the dust. Naturally, the question comes: What fueled the growth of Hockey?
Analyzing NHL’s rise: The what and the how
Primarily, four factors have contributed to the sustainable growth of hockey in the United States:
The never-ending pool of talents:
NHL has managed to bring a steady supply of generational talents into the sport. Think of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin – the rivalry is going strong 20 years after it started. Then, the next generation of stars, like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, and Nathan MacKinnon, are peaking. On the other hand, Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Luke Hughes, and the like are rising fast through the ranks.
The influx of these youngsters has also injected a bunch of new fans into the sport. Audiences, 24.7% of whom belong to the 18-34 age group, are also enthused by the improved broadcast and more accessible streaming.
The unsung hero: Technology
Is there any game in the world that has been as positively impacted by technology as hockey? Probably not. It’s easier to track the puck now because of the improved quality of the broadcast. Moreover, thanks to the NHL’s partnership with SportsMEDIA Technology (SMT), referees and match officials can now track the player and puck movement with more accuracy.
So, there are fewer grumbles and more claps from fans. The advent of 4K will take it up a notch higher in recent years. Now add to that Hockey’s inherent thrill – the fastest players can skate at 25.5MPH + per hour compared to footballers, whose maximum running speed touches 22MPH. So, there is zero surprise that viewership numbers have grown massively in recent years.
A steady growth in viewership numbers
“It’s not rocket science: It’s the number of eyeballs watching your product. They [NHL] have done a really good job of expanding their fanbase, and that’s the key,” Salvatore Galatioto, a marketing professor at Columbia, told AP last year. And the NHL has surely cracked that code, as is evident from its burgeoning viewership growth.
ESPN, ABC, and TNT averaged 504,000 eyeballs last year, an 8% Y-O-Y increase.
The 2023-24 season was the most-watched in 30 years.
In-person attendance rose to a whopping 22.8M — the highest in the NHL’s 106-year history.
Consequently, broadcasters are willing to cough up big money to the NHL. The recent agreement with Rogers Communication, first reported by Sportico and later confirmed by AP, will kickstart in the 2026-27 season for 12 years.
Rogers reportedly agreed to a $7.7 billion ($11B CAD) media rights deal to broadcast NHL games in Canada.
It’s nearly double of what the company paid ($4.9B) last time in 2013.
Stateside, the NHL earns $410 million annually from ESPN/ABC. Another $225 million comes from TBS/TNT.
Yes, it’s meager compared to what the NFL rakes in each year from six different platforms ($12.4B) and what the NBA does ($1.6B). But the yearly growth in viewership, franchise valuation, and revenue speaks for the booming business at NHL. And there is no slowing down. Quite the contrary, in fact. The NHL has already set its eyes on the future.
NHL is expanding its horizon
Did you know that over 22 million people watched the Stanley Cup playoffs in China? Yes, in China, interest in hockey has grown by leaps and bounds. The NHL has taken an approach similar to the NBA by promoting the grassroots development of the game. Notably, there are around 20 hockey schools in China that are affiliated with the NHL.
Then there is the Four Nations Face-off.
16.1 million people in North America watched the USA-Canada final.
One in every four Canadians tuned in to watch the match.
The seven-game averaged 6.5M viewers, up 256% from the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
The NHL’s next step is to grow the game even more. The first goal is to get American viewers to watch matches involving Canadian teams. It’s good for the NHL that the tide is turning in their favor—ratings have been high even for matches involving Canadian teams. The future of the NHL looks bright, and the growth in average valuation is only one indication of that. At this rate, the sky is the limit.
The post Why Hockey Is Now the Fastest-Growing Major Sport—The NHL Business Surge appeared first on EssentiallySports.
