The New York Rangers emerge as one of the most valuable franchises in the NHL

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Joshua Deeds
October 31, 2024 (4:31 PM)

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The New York Rangers have a good problem, as a recent valuation report of NHL franchises was released this week.

The Rangers, an original-six franchise now owned by James Dolan who also owns the New York Knicks has cause to celebrate.

In the report released by Sportico, the Rangers are now the 2nd most valuable NHL franchise with a price tag of $3.25 Billion. The whopping increase? 33%!

This is the fourth consecutive year the Rangers have been ranked 2nd on Sportico's most valuable list.

It's the fourth straight year that the Rangers ranked second in the valuations since Sportico began publishing this annual list in 2021. In fact, the top three teams remain unchanged in that span, with the Montreal Canadiens ($2.93 billion this year) once again sitting right behind the Maple Leafs and Rangers.

Sportico's latest reporting revealed that the average valuation for all 32 NHL teams is $1.79 Billion, a monstrous jump of 39 percent from last year. Adding that on top of the year prior is a whopping 77 percent.

Since the injection of private equity into the NHL, the valuation of all NHL franchises has jumped into the $1 Billion dollar mark.

The only franchise that has yet to eclipse that $1.79 mark is the Columbus Blue Jackets who only experienced a jump of 20 percent to $1.06 Billion.

This albeit is counter to the narrative of the last three seasons that the owners of teams were crying poor, amidst putting advertisements everywhere except the seats you sit on. Let's not forget, the players hate escrow, yet they're forced to put into it.

The great news is the line is going up for all NHL teams, and profitability is secure.

The downside is private equity gets its tendrils into another facet of the economy:

Which teams have private equity investors?

� New Jersey Devils (Arctos)-Arctos is invested through part ownership of the Devils' parent company, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.

� Minnesota Wild (Arctos)

� Pittsburgh Penguins (Arctos, RedBird Capital)-Both funds are invested in the team through part ownership of the Penguins' parent company, Fenway Sports Group.

� Tampa Bay Lightning (Arctos)

It is good news that the Rangers won't go broke, and Dolan could sell and make money if he ever chose to. But when we hear them cry about player salaries or escrow I'm less inclined to believe them.

Maybe Dolan can find some extra cash to make sure our RFA's and Shesterkin get paid?