![]() Sportico values the Senators at $655 million, up a league-high 21%. The team has already interviewed sell-side bankers, according to multiple people, and there is significant interest in the franchise. In March, longtime owner Eugene Melnyk died and left the team to his two children-Anna and Olivia-who are both younger than 25. The Ottawa Senators are widely expected to be the next team to sell. The average NFL team is worth $4.1 billion, while the NBA came in at $2.6 billion last year and should push $3 billion in Sportico’s next franchise valuations.Īrctos Sports Partners has made private equity investments in at least four NHL franchises: the Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins (through its FSG stake) and the Devils (via an investment in the team’s parent, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment). Hockey teams possess a relatively young, affluent fan base and the same avenues to grow their businesses, whether it is through sponsorships, content, gambling, blockchain or real estate developments, but at a dramatically lower entry price. NHL teams are valued at an average of just over five times revenue, compared to the NFL (7.6) NBA (8.4) and MLB (7.4). FSG has been after an NBA team for a few years but hasn't been able to land one and instead added the Pens to its deep sports portfolio. One of them called the league a “hidden gem” in North American sports, although it’s far less hidden to consumers after re-signing ESPN as its national broadcast partner last season. Many investors see the NHL as good value in a world where MLS clubs sell for more than 10 times their revenue. That $900 million transaction is the most expensive NHL team purchase. ![]() It is roughly the same multiple of revenue that Fenway Sports Group paid in December for the Pittsburgh Penguins, whose value ranks No. The $775 million valuation represents 4.7 times the team’s $165 million revenue for the 2021-22 season. Finally, like a lot of other people, I love sports, and I look forward to enjoying Predators hockey for a long time.” Secondly, I am a believer in pro sports in general, and hockey in particular, as good long-term investments. “There are a lot of factors that make Nashville a very desirable town, and I don’t see any of those changing any time soon. “I am very bullish on Nashville as a sports and entertainment center,” Haslam said. Haslam pointed to three reasons for his interest in the Predators in an email to Sportico. Factoring in a discount for the time value of money puts the current value of the deal at $775 million, according to people familiar with the transaction who were granted anonymity because the details are private. Bill Haslam will take control of the franchise by 2025 through a series of four payments, with the final one putting an enterprise value of more than $900 million on the club. He is the brother of Jimmy Haslam, who owns the Cleveland Browns and Columbus Crew. The Predators are in the process of adding Haslam as a minority owner. ![]() ![]() Another plus for these trophy assets: Most of them turn profits now, after years of just scraping by or losing money. More billionaires are being produced every single year, and the supply of teams is relatively flat. “And you have a supply situation where there are very few new franchises being created, and the demand for them is growing quite dramatically, and you can see it show up with how many people show up at different situations to try and get involved in the process.”īlitzer hit on a fundamental issue that is driving rising franchise valuations across all sports leagues. “These leagues and teams are amazing content creators,” Blitzer said. He laid out his two most powerful drivers for the investment in sports teams at Sportico’s Invest in Sports event last month. sports leagues, including the New Jersey Devils. David Blitzer, global head of tactical opportunities at Blackstone, has acquired ownership stakes across the five major U.S. Like the NFL and NBA, which soak up many of the sports business headlines, the NHL has similar levers that make the clubs valuable.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |