The start of the 2025-26 NHL season is almost here, and Sportico rung October in by releasing their annual listing of the league's most valuable franchises. The listing has just one team ahead of the Broadway Blueshirts, and the team increased in its valuation relative to last season.
New York Rangers hold down No. 2 spot
The @MapleLeafs are the NHL's most valuable team at $4.25 billion, and the league average is up 108% over the past three years.
— Sportico (@Sportico) October 1, 2025
Check out some other key facts here: https://t.co/0hkfhe5WMn pic.twitter.com/DqpE4vKdlU
The Blueshirts have held onto the second overall spot on Sportico's annual rankings for the last several years, and has increased in overall value signifcantly in that time frame. In 2021, the Blueshirts were valued at $1.87 billion, with the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of them at $2 billion.
Fast forwarding to 2025, the Rangers now have a valuation of $3.65 billion, which is up 12 percent from last season's valuation of $3.25 billion. The Leafs once again held down the top spot this year, and they have an estimated value of $4.25 billion.
The Rangers sit comfortably in their position, with the Montreal Canadiens coming in third with a valuation of $3.3 billion, and the Boston Bruins sitting in fourth with a valuation of $3 billion.
What makes the franchise so valuable?
MSG Sports Corporation is the formal owner of the Rangers, the New York Knicks, and Madison Square Garden. The principal owner of MSG Sports is James Dolan. This most recent year was a good one, as MSG Sports reported $1.039 billion in revenue over the fiscal year that ended June 30 per Mike Vorkunov.
The Rangers play at MSG which is one of the premier venues in all of sports and entertainment. It's a building they own, which is likely factored into the valuation cost. Not every professional sports team owns their building, and leasing costs certainly can impact valuations.
With that ownership and total overall oversight comes high prices for tickets, concessions, merchandise, luxury suites, and money collected through sponsorships from partners such as Delta, J.P. Morgan, Northwell Health, Pepsico, Spectrum, and countless others.
Business was good for the Rangers, even though play wasn't
The team's total revenue for last season was $332 million which was fifth in the entire league. The Rangers also have their own regional sports network in MSG Sports Network, and that's another source of revenue for the organization. As previously mentioned, it also doesn't hurt that the Knicks, also owned by Dolan, play their games on MSG and are coming off their most successful season in recent memory. When the Knicks are good, business is good, and I'd like to think the Rangers benefited from that in some way.
Star power helps
Also factored into the valuation is that the team plays in New York City which is the largest media market in the world, so that attention and the people who live in the city earns them more dollars than a team in a much smaller market.
In addition to that, you have team success and star players who are part of the organization which add to the overall value. Igor Shesterkin is one of the league's best goaltenders and has a Vezina Trophy and was a Hart Trophy finalist. Adam Fox is one of the league's top defenseman, a Norris Trophy winner, and also has a second place finish to his name.
The 2024-25 season was a down year, but 2023-24 was a season in which the team won the Presidents' Trophy and made it to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final. A lengthy playoff run was good for business, as was being the best team in the regular season.
With Mike Sullivan in the fold, the Rangers are looking to rebound from last season. If the team plays up to potential, they could once again be one of the league's top contenders, and go on a lengthy playoff run. If all that comes to fruition, the Rangers could possibly become the NHL's second $4 billion team this time next year.