CNBC's Official NHL Team Valuations 2025: Here's how the 32 franchises stack up

CNBC's 2025 NHL valuations show the average franchise is now worth $2.2 billion, up 15% year-over-year, driven by richer national media-rights deals; league-wide 2024-25 revenue averaged $243M (+9%) and EBITDA averaged $54M (+20%). The 12-year Canadian deal with Rogers is valued at $7.79B (starting 2026-27) and U.S. rights are expected to roughly double in the next cycle, benefits that flow equally to all teams and disproportionately lift lower-revenue franchises; Toronto ($4.3B), New York Rangers ($3.8B) and Montreal ($3.4B) remain the most valuable, while arena economics and local TV deals continue to dictate top valuations.

Analysis

Market structure: The revenue shock re-prices sport-rights as a scarce, annuitized cash flow that favors rights-owners and balance-sheet-rich acquirers (teams, MSGS, RCI) while pressuring traditional distributors' gross margins. Expect compression of franchise revenue dispersion — smaller-market teams see a higher valuation floor while large-market upside moderates — shifting pricing power toward leagues and national broadcasters. Across assets, anticipate tighter credit spreads for arena-backed loans and increased issuance of secured financing; equity multiples become more rate-sensitive (a 100bp rise in 10y yields could knock ~8–12% off reported franchise valuations).

Key Decisions for Investors

• Establish a 2–3% long position in MSGS (equity) sized by portfolio risk, with a 12-month target of +25% and a hard exit if 10y Treasury >4.5% or MSGS falls 15% from entry; add a 9–12 month call spread (buy 15% OTM, sell 30% OTM) to cap cost.
• Initiate a 1–2% long position in RCI ahead of the 2026 deal start; hedge currency and rate risk by pairing with a 1% short position in CMCSA (equal-dollar) to express distributor monetization stress — unwind pair if U.S. rights auction signals >+70% bid escalation vs. consensus.
• Implement a pair trade: long MSGS / short CMCSA equal-dollar (1–1.5% each) to capture relative upside of rights owners versus large distributors; finance with selling near-term (30–60 day) covered calls at ~8–12% OTM to harvest premium.
• Avoid direct exposure to municipal/arena revenue-backed high-yield bonds beyond 3% of fixed-income sleeve until ad CPMs and local carriage renewals stabilize; consider buying short-dated protection (CDS or bond puts) if spreads tighten <150bps on similar issuers.