Well - here in the 'Centre of the Hockey Universe' - Brian Burke's description of Toronto - I'm sure the Ontario Teacher's Pension fund - MLSE's largest shareholder - are celebrating Forbe's latest numbers on the value of NHL franchises. Leafs value up by 5% to $470 million, some $54 million higher than # 2 - the Rangers.
Leafs also lead in revenue at $168 million with # 2 - the Rangers at $139 million. In Operating Income Leafs come in with an incredible $78.9 million whereas Montreal is # 2 at $31.3 million.
One other number that caught my eye is the value given the Coyotes - $138 million. Just goes to show you how much more valuable another Southern Ontario team would be if Balsillie - a very smart business man - was willing to pay well over $200 million for them - if allowed to move them to Hamilton.
Here's the full list.
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/31/hockey...tions_Rank.html
Here's the top 5 by current value.
**************** Current Value ($mil) **1-Yr Value Change (%) ** Revenue($mil) **Operating Income ($mil)
1 Toronto Maple Leafs ********* 470 ************ 5 ************** 168 ************** 78.9
2 New York Rangers ********** 416 ************ 1 ************** 139 ************** 27.7
3 Montreal Canadiens ********* 339 ************ 2 ************** 130 ************** 31.3
4 Detroit Red Wings ********** 337 ************ 11 ************** 130 ************** 27.4
5 Philadelphia Flyers *********** 273 ************ -1 ************** 101 ************** 3.1