ESPN’s Greg Wysyhski engaged in a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh, and the product thereof is not behind a paywall (so everyone can read it). Here’s part of their conversation:
Over the last decade, the NHL has seen franchise valuations boom, to the point where it was reasonable to expect a team like the Ottawa Senators would sell for over $1 billion. (Michael Andlauer’s winning bid came under that, but just barely.)
The NHL has considerable media rights deals in the U.S., Canada and abroad for its games. Sponsor United reported that the NHL’s sponsorship revenue grew 21% in 2022-23 to reach $1.28 billion. The NHL salary cap in the 2012-13 season was $70.2 million. The salary cap for the 2023-24 season is $83.5 million.
Walsh said in his conversations with players, he heard concerns about the salary cap’s lack of growth. But the “flat cap” due to the COVID pandemic certainly played a role in that lack of exponential growth for the salary cap.
“The salary cap is based off the revenue and in the last couple of years, COVID threw a huge curveball at everyone. If COVID doesn’t happen, the salary cap is going up. Because of COVID, there was a debt that was owed [by the players], and hopefully that’s resolved by the end of next season,” said Walsh. “Then what you have is a system that will be tied into growth and revenue.”
By 2025-26, the cap is expected to rise above $92 million.
That’s growth. But is it growth commiserate with the revenues the league is generating? Is it growth that would put the NHL’s top stars closer to the salaries of counterparts in other pro leagues, or growth that would “un-squeeze” the salaries of veteran role players whose earnings have frequently been casualties of the cap?
“I’m not being critical, but team franchise wealth is certainly growing at a disproportionate [rate] compared to what the players are making,” said Walsh. “You now have a lot of teams in the next couple of years that will be worth a billion dollars, and then you’ll be talking about the $2 billion team.”
Continued (give this one a read)
