Hockey's Billion-Dollar Boom: Maple Leafs Top CNBC's 2026 List at $5.4 Billion as the Average NHL Team Hits $2.71 Billion

The business of hockey has never been bigger. CNBC's 2026 NHL team valuations, released Friday, put the Toronto Maple Leafs at $5.4 billion, the most valuable franchise in the sport, with the New York Rangers second at $4.7 billion and the Montreal Canadiens third at $4.1 billion. CNBC said it is the first time hockey team values have crossed the $4 billion mark.

The rise is not limited to the top. According to CNBC, the average NHL team is now worth $2.71 billion, up 23% from a year ago. That is a remarkable climb in a single year.

CNBC's figures are enterprise values, meaning equity plus net debt, and they are calculated using multiples of revenue. The network includes the economics of each team's arena, and it counts a planned arena only when construction has started and the financing is secured. Revenue is measured after the league's revenue sharing, including the 35% of non-premium home playoff gate money that goes into the shared pool.

Other outlets that value sports teams use their own methods and often land on different totals, so CNBC's figures are best compared with CNBC's own earlier lists. By that yardstick, the jump this year is a big one.

It is worth noticing who leads the list. Toronto, New York and Montreal are all Original Six clubs, franchises with roots that run back generations and fan bases that pass season tickets down like family heirlooms. In hockey, tradition is not a slogan. It is a balance sheet.

The other half of the story is television. In a separate report, CNBC's Alex Sherman wrote that the NHL is seeking between 50% and 100% more money in its next U.S. media deal, based on early talks with its partners. The current agreements with ESPN and TNT, a seven-year package worth roughly $4.5 billion, run through the 2027-28 season. CNBC reported that formal negotiations can begin on Jan. 1, with the next deal expected to start with the 2028-29 season.

The league goes into those talks with some wind at its back. Awful Announcing reported "mutual interest" between the NHL and its current network partners in renewing, and Front Office Sports reported that Commissioner Gary Bettman has pointed to strong playoff viewership as leverage. In Canada, the league's renewal with Rogers was reported at roughly $7.7 billion over 12 years.

There are limits, though. CNBC noted that hockey's talks come as media companies brace for a big increase in what they pay the NFL, and Awful Announcing pointed out that those NFL bills could limit what networks are willing to spend on other leagues. The NBA's 11-year, $77 billion deal shows what is possible for a league with leverage, and CNBC framed the coming talks as a real test of the NHL's strength.

CNBC also reported that the NHL is weighing expansion to cities such as Houston and Atlanta, with entry fees that could top $2 billion. A price tag like that would only push existing team values higher.

I cover this game for the love of it: the 6 a.m. youth practices, the parents in the cold bleachers with a thermos of coffee, the Saturday nights when a whole country seems to stop for one game. The valuations are good news because they mean the sport is healthy, owners are investing, and the league is not going anywhere.

But a word of caution. When the average team's value climbs 23% in a year, someone pays for it, and too often it is the family of four trying to get into the building. The NHL's strength has always been its community roots and its loyal, working-class fans. A league worth $2.71 billion a team can afford to keep a seat in the upper deck within reach of a dad and his kids, and it should.

The expansion talk deserves the same discipline. Growth is welcome when it rests on real fan bases, not just on a big check. The markets that sit atop CNBC's list prove the point: loyalty built over decades is what turns a hockey club into a $5 billion institution.

The calendar now matters. U.S. rights talks can formally open on Jan. 1, expansion conversations continue, and the games themselves will keep making the case. Hockey's on-ice product has given fans plenty this fall, and the money people have clearly noticed.

For the Maple Leafs, Rangers and Canadiens, the numbers confirm what their fans already knew. For the rest of the league, the message is that the climb is real, and the next TV contract will show just how high it can go.