Here's how much money the Utah Hockey Club is worth

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Utah Hockey Club, valued at $1.2 billion, ranks 28th in NHL valuations.
• The team set record jersey sales and saw high fan engagement despite lacking a permanent name.
• Utah HC achieved record merchandise sales, surpassing previous NHL and Delta Center records.

SALT LAKE CITY — Earlier this year, before Ashley and Ryan Smith acquired the team, the Arizona Coyotes had the lowest valuation among the NHL's 32 teams, somewhere around $500 million.

The struggling franchise played on a college campus after losing its lease at an arena in Glendale and several attempts to secure public financing for a new venue failed. In an unprecedented deal brokered by the league, the Smiths stepped in to buy the team and move it to Salt Lake City. Sales price: $1.2 billion.

Now nearly two months into its inaugural season, Utah HC isn't the least valuable team in the league anymore. CNBC's Official 2024 NHL Valuations ranks Utah 28th at $1.2 billion, just what the Smiths paid in April. CNBC calculates the team's revenue at $119 million with an EBITDA, short for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, at negative $6.3 million.

Utah HC ranks just below the Carolina Hurricanes, which has one Stanley Cup since joining the league in 1997, and just ahead of the Ottawa Senators, a team with no championships in its 31-year history.

What NHL team is worth the most?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have the highest valuation in the league at $4 billion, while the Columbus Blue Jackets have the lowest at $1 billion, according to CNBC.

The average NHL team is worth $1.92 billion, per CNBC, which says the league is commanding more respect when it comes to team values. The average team posted EBITDA of $45 million on revenue of $223 million for the 2023-24 season, according to CNBC calculations.

The NHL reported revenue for the 2023-24 season of $6.3 billion, 8.6% higher than the previous year. The league also brought in a record $250 million national sponsorship revenue last season, along with regular-season gate receipt revenue of $2.4 billion, the NHL said.

"That growth, combined with richer media deals, is contributing to a better bottom line for professional hockey," per CNBC. "Steady revenue growth combined with a hard salary cap and a leaguewide revenue-sharing system all but ensure profitability for the league's 32 teams."

That bodes well for Utah HC.

Utah HC record jersey sales

While the team has had ups and downs on the ice nearly two months into its first season, fan engagement has been off the charts since the team arrived in April and only accelerated with the first puck drop last month. Demand for season tickets outpaced the number of available seats, and the Delta Center exceeds its official capacity of 11,131 for hockey each night when the team sells up to 5,000 obstructed view seats.

The franchise doesn't have a permanent name or mascot — Blizzard, Mammoth, Outlaws, Venom, Yeti and Utah Hockey Club are in the running — but that hasn't stopped Utahns from loading up on team gear.

Fans lined up at the team store when Utah HC jerseys went on sale for the first time Nov. 15, setting a Delta Center single-day sports event sales record. It beat the previous record set at its inaugural game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 8 for merchandise other than the jersey by 48%. The NHL's online store also sold out of Utah HC jerseys within 24 hours of putting them on sale. Exact sales figures were not disclosed.

Utah set an NHL record, too. Among regular-season games at home arenas, Utah had the best single-game net merchandise sales total, beating the previous best sales total by 29%, per NHL.com. Only one game in the regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs at a home arena has had a higher single-game net merchandise sales total: the Golden Knights' clinching win in Game 5 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 23, 2023.

Fans also purchased a record amount of beer for an NHL or NBA game at the 33-year-old Delta Center, with team owner Smith Entertainment Group reporting $150,000 in sales during Utah's 5-2 win over the Blackhawks on opening night.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Related topics

Utah HCBusinessSportsSalt Lake County

Dennis Romboy

• 
• 
• 

Dennis Romboy is an editor and reporter for the Deseret News. He has covered a variety of beats over the years, including state and local government, social issues and courts. A Utah native, Romboy earned a degree in journalism from the University of Utah. He enjoys cycling, snowboarding and running.