On June 22nd, 2016 the NHL approved expansion to Las Vegas and The Creator agreed to pay $500 million to buy the league’s 31st franchise. A little more than five years later, that investment has nearly doubled.
According to Sportico.com, the Vegas Golden Knights are currently valued at $890 million, a 78% increase in value from the purchase price.
That number puts the Golden Knights in the top half of the league, coming in at #12, directly behind the Vancouver Canucks ($975m), Detroit Red Wings ($1.025b), and Edmonton Oilers ($1.16b). The Toronto Maple Leafs ($2b) lead the league followed by the New York Rangers ($1.87b) and Montreal Canadiens ($1.58b).
The last time a national outlet put out valuations like this was back in December of 2019. At that time, Forbes had the Golden Knights at just $580 million, in 13th place.
There’s been a pandemic since now and then, and yet somehow Sportico has the team worth over $300 million more than before.
Sportico projects the Golden Knights to make $186 million in revenue this year, which is surprisingly only good enough for 16th place in the NHL. Last year Vegas came in with $89 million during the challenging 2020-21 COVID-affected season. That was 4th in the league, likely boosted by the ability to fill their building with fans much earlier than most other teams.
The total $890 million number is made up of the team value which is listed at $835 million and “team-related businesses and real estate” which is valued at $56 million.
The NHL’s newest team, the Seattle Kraken, come in two spots behind the Golden Knights at $860 million, but their team value is actually higher than VGK, also listed at $860 million.
Nonetheless, any investment that goes up 78% in five years would be considered a good one. Maybe, just maybe, this Foley guy knows what he’s doing with his money.
**The full feature article from Sportico is behind a paywall, but their infographic is free and it’s awesome.**
