New numbers reveal Gary Bettman isn't growing the league as well as he claims

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Josh Tupper
August 9, 2023 (10:03)

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If Gary Bettman had things his way he'd want you to believe the NHL is growing at a record pace. He'd also want you to believe franchise values have increased at the same pace as all other major sports. Unfortunately Bettman can't hide his baseless claims after the recent release of update franchise valuations.

Last Fall when Sportico released their annual franchise valuations, only two teams were able to crack the $2 billion mark - the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers. Meanwhile, the average value of an NHL franchise rose to $1 billion, which is good news, but again, isn't as much as the NFL, MLB, NBA or MLS.

On Tuesday, Sportico released an updated rankings of all 152 North American teams across all 5 major sports. These numbers show just how far the NHL has fallen behind all other major sports.

In these numbers only two NHL teams break into the top-75. The Toronto Maple Leafs sit 66th with a valuation of $2.12 billion. The New York Rangers follow closely behind at 68th with a value of $2.01 billion.

Six other NHL teams cracked the top-100 - Montreal (79th), Chicago (87th), Boston (88th), Los Angeles (T-89th), Philadelphia (93rd), Edmonton (96th) and Washington (98th).

The Arizona Coyotes rank last among NHL teams 147th overall and are valued at just $465 million. The only teams lower than the Coyotes in the rankings are 5 MLS teams.

Sportico's list shows that the NHL has a very long way to go to increase the value of their franchises and it leaves many fans blaming the league's leadership, including Commissioner Gary Bettman.