The Toronto Maple Leafs are the NHL’s most valuable franchise

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the NHL’s most valuable franchise for the third year in a row. The Leafs topped Sportico’s annual valuation for NHL franchises topping the list at $3.66 billion.

The Toronto Maple Leafs topped the New York Rangers, who came in second with a valuation of $3.25 billion. The Montreal Canadiens were third just shy of $3 billion with a valuation of $2,93 billion, the Boston Bruins at $2.67 billion, and somewhat surprisingly, the Los Angeles were fifth with a $2.5 billion valuation.

It’s worth pointing out that several factors go into a club’s valuation. These include the team itself, stadium or arenas linked to the team, naming rights, trademarks, and any other assets the team could possess such as broadcasting.

Rogers, the Toronto Maple Leafs parent company, owns the majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE). MLSE owns Scotiabank Arena, among other assets linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Marlies, Toronto Argonauts, and MLS Toronto FC. MLSE also owns a number of other minor league clubs within soccer, hockey, and basketball domains.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the NHL’s most valuable franchise

Sportico also pointed out that most NHL teams’ valuations doubled in three years. Now, virtually every team in the league is worth at least $1 billion. That number makes sense considering the franchise fee for the Utah Hockey Club was $1.5 billion.

The Smith Entertainment Group paid a $1.5 billion relocation fee to move the Arizona Coyotes from the desert to Utah. Meanwhile, Coyotes’ owner Alex Meruelo received the payment for essentially selling the club this past summer.

Earlier this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced Rogers’ buyout of Bell Media, leaving it as the majority shareholder in MLSE. As I discussed in this piece, Rogers shelled out $4.7 billion for Bell’s 37.5% stake in MLSE.

Of course, that 37.5% doesn’t involve just the Toronto Maple Leafs. It also involves majority ownership of other teams including the Leafs. Moreover, the majority stake allowed Rogers to assume control over MLSE’s operations, especially broadcasting rights to Leafs and Raptors games.

In total, Rogers owns a 75% stake in MLSE, with private investor Larry Tanenbaum retaining control over the other 25% in MLSE.

Ultimately, Rogers is now reaping the rewards of their investment in MLSE, as just one piece of that pie is worth nearly the entire amount paid for Bell’s stake in MLSE. It remains to be seen whether the Leafs valuation will increase next year.

One thing is certain, though. If the Leafs were to bring home a Stanley Cup, the club’s valuation would shoot through the roof.