31% of NHL ticket revenue from Canadian teams
Last Updated: Friday, May 30, 2008 | 1:45 AM ET
The Canadian Press
The Toronto Maple Leafs topped all Canadian teams in ticket revenue. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)An NHL report shows the six Canadian teams account for 31 per cent of the $1.1 billion US in league ticket revenue, the Toronto Star reported Thursday.
Overall, the league has seen its ticket revenue rise almost 10 per cent, but 11 of the 24 U.S.-based clubs were either revenue-flat or lost ticket income.
The Toronto Maple Leafs nudged out the Montreal Canadiens to lead the league this past season with $1.9 million worth of ticket revenue per game.
Based on 41 home games, that's $77.9 million a year — not counting revenue from pre-season games.
The increase in the value of the Canadian dollar may be responsible for as much as half of the league's revenue gains since the NHL went through the lockout of 2004-05, say several sources familiar with NHL finances.
"If you take out the Canadian teams, which have done so well since the lockout largely because of the Canadian dollar, the league's revenues are actually only growing at a two per cent clip per year," an executive with a U.S.-based NHL team, who requested anonymity, told the Star.
The NHL did not comment on the internal report, but NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly has reviewed the document and said it highlights the importance of placing more franchises in Canada, instead of the U.S.
