Latest Valuation For the Toronto Maple Leafs Absolutely Jaw-Dropping
For the second consecutive year, the Toronto Maple Leafs top the Forbes list of most valuable franchises in the NHL.
After holding the top spot for what felt like an eternity, the Maple Leafs lost their footing atop the NHL to the New York Rangers for 8 straight years. They returned as the league's most valuable franchise in 2023 and have reclaimed their throne in 2024, sitting at a $3.66 billion valuation.
2024 also marks the third straight year they've been worth more than $2 billion, first reaching that mark in 2022, then going up to 2.8 billion last year, and now sitting at almost $4 billion in 2024, a 1-year increase of 38% denoted by Sportico.
The top-3 has remained untouched for a long time with the Maple Leafs, the Rangers, and the Montreal Canadiens jockeying for position. After them are the same familiar names in the Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, and Philadelphia Flyers rounding out the top-8 and meeting the $2 billion threshold.
2024 is also the first time that every team comes in at a 1 billion dollar valuation with the Columbus Blue Jackets completing the list as the 32nd-most valuable franchise at $1.06 billion. Last year, 11 teams didn't make the cut, which could be further evidence pointing towards the NHL becoming more profitable after a stagnated period after COVID-19.
While the Maple Leafs sit atop the throne, the biggest one-year movers include the Utah Hockey Club, which increased by 78%, followed by the Oilers at 51%, and the Bruins at 50%. In terms of the lowest amount of increase, we have the Winnipeg Jets at 19%, the Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators at 20%, the Anaheim Ducks at 27%, and the Canadiens at 29%.
It's certainly a good look for the NHL to not only have every team worth over a billion dollars but having all teams showing positive gains as well. It will take some time, but the NHL could be inching closer in valuation to their counterparts in the NBA and MLB.
A Stanley Cup championship would do wonders for the Maple Leafs on so many different accounts but in terms of valuation for 2025, it would most assuredly have them sitting around the 5 billion dollar mark - something that seemed improbable many years ago.
